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L. L. PICKETT. 



ERRATA. 



Chapter XL, "As to Eating and Drinking," 233 
to 238, should come after Chapter XII. , "Earth 
Renewed and Perpetuated," which, as the reader 
will readily see, is but a continuation of Chapter X. 



The Renewed ILartH, 

Or The Coming and 
Reign of Jesus Christ. 



"The times of the restoration of all things." — Acts 3:21. 



By Evangelist L, L. PICKETT, 

Author of Sundry Books, Editor "The King's Herald" and 
"Bible Truth Library." 



PRICE, ONE DOLLAR. 



I D i . * ■ 



PICKETT PUBLISHING CO., 
Lotti8Vil.ee, Ky. Greenville, Tex. 



1 DEC 7 1903 



4^ 



Copyright 1903, by L. L. Pickett. 



Introduction. 



BY REV. JOHN B. CULPEPPER, 



Dear Readers: 

When the "holiness wave" struck Georgia it 
caught my ear and eye and challenged my atten- 
tion as a proposition to go deeper and do more for 
me, my home, my church and my State than we 
had yet realized. After listening to a little local 
controversy, I determined to know what wise men 
had said. So I ordered a box of literature — $151 
worth of books, setting forth the doctrine and ex- 
perience from the beginning. These books con- 
tained the mature thought and rich experience of 
the church, irrespective of denominational affilia- 
tion. I was surprised, immeasurably, to find that 
this was not only a Bible doctrine, but was the feat- 
ure of early and all real Methodism. Before I read 
those books through, I was satisfied that a man 
who did not believe in the "baptism of the Holy 
Spirit," subsequent to regeneration — that one who 
did not believe in what we Methodists call "the 
second blessing;" w T hat Baptists call "the rest of 
faith;" what Episcopalians first called "the higher 
life;" what Moody called "endueinent for service;" 
what Andrew Murray calls "the surrendered 1; 
what some, like Meyer, denominate "the fullness 
life," is in antagonism with true theology, accurate 



4 Introduction. 

history, and sound experience. From that hour, 
twenty years ago, I have steadily adhered to what 
I so well learned then. 

Similarly have I been affected by the literal re- 
turn and Pre-Millennial reign of my Saviour. In 
the first instance I was prejudiced against the doc- 
trine of holiness, as I understood it to be taught. 
Careful, and, I think, prayerful, investigation 
overcame prejudice and error. In this matter of 
Pre- or Post-Millennialism, my dense ignorance 
was most in my way. The name had never at- 
tracted me. I got confused with "Adventism," 
"Millennial-dawnism," and many other irrelevant 
subjects. 

A little investigation interested me. More in- 
vestigation alarmed me for myself and others. As I 
proceeded, it became clear that the first followers of 
Christ looked for Him back — that the early church 
were, without exception, Pre-Millennialists — that 
many of the wisest and best of men in all subse- 
quent generations have held this view; that it 
makes the Bible harmonious and consistent; that 
it is the greatest of incentives to holy living, and 
is without parallel as a spring to missionary zeal 
and activity. 

I hail every good book on this and kindred 
themes. This volume can only do good. When 
asked for an introductory word, I hesitated, out of 
pure, personal regard for the author. But, know- 
ing him as I do, after living by him two years, 
after being in many religious meetings with him, 
and after having business association with him for 



Introduction. 5 

a number of years, I can say that if deep, personal 
piety, much prayer, healthful conscientiousness and 
painstaking candor are to be counted, then this book 
goes forth on a fruitful mission.. 

To each and all of my personal friends, as well 
as the generous public, I hereby formally introduce 
this volume, begging that you give it a close read- 
ing. 



CONTENTS. 

Introduction 3 

Proem „ 9 

CHAPTER I. 
The Pall of Man— Its Extent . 13 

CHAPTER II. 
Extent of the Redemption 29 

CHAPTER III. 
The Present Evil Age 42 

CHAPTER IV. 
As to the Kingdom 67 

CHAPTER V. 
Times of the Gentiles 107 

CHAPTER VI. 
A Study of the Millennium 117 

CHAPTER VII. 
The Millennium — A Phase of the Judgment 164 

CHAPTER VIII. 
"This Same Jesus'' 183 

CHAPTER IX. 
Perpetuity of the Earth 191 

CHAPTER X. 
Perpetuity of the Earth. — Continued 



8 Contents. 

CHAPTER XI. 
As to Eating and Drinking- 233 

CHAPTER XII. 
Earth Renewed and Perpetuated 239 

CHAPTER XIII. 
Effect on the Animal Creation 262 

CHAPTER XIV. 
Objections Considered „ . . . . 278 

CHAPTER XV. 
Question Department „ 294 

CHAPTER XVI. 
Importance of This Doctrine 305 

CHAPTER XVII. 
Spiritual Results 317 

APPENDIX. 
Where Are the Dead? <>..,.. 322 



Proem. 

This is my third book on our Lord's second com- 
ing. When my mind was first turned to the subject, 
and my heart richly blessed by it, I quickly brought 
out "Gur King Cometh," which, though faulty 
somewhat in teaching, at least in two of its 
chapters, because of my limited study of the sub- 
ject, has, nevertheless, sold several thousand 
copies and proven helpful to many hearts. (It has 
been recently revised by the elimination of the 
two chapters, which I felt to be unsound in teach- 
ing, and the substitution of others that will, I 
believe, prove of much practical benefit to its 
readers.) Next came "The Blessed Hope," which 
went into a more thorough discussion of this sub- 
ject. I have not seen fit to change any of its teach- 
ings, for I believe them thoroughly sound. The 
present work, however, carries the reader further, 
and is in some sense supplementary to ' 'The Blessed 
Hope." I have found it necessary to cover some 
of the ground in these pages that I had gone over 
in ' 'The Blessed Hope. " The arguments, however, 
are differently constructed and present the subject 
from different angles of vision. Even in these 
pages there is some repetition, especially of proof 
texts. This seems a necessity, since related sub- 
jects or phases of a subject frequently overlap. 
And, indeed, the Bible itself gives us "line upon 



io Proem. 

line, precept upon precept, here a little, there a 
little." It is no doubt profitable to the reader to 
have a text turned over and examined from differ- 
ent standpoints, and a new setting may enforce its 
teachings, when a former presentation has failed. 
No apology, therefore, seems necessary for this 
repetition. 

I have not written here, nor do I in any of my 
books, for the carping critic, but for the great com- 
mon people, the class that heard our Lord gladly. 
I believe that they will appreciate and profit bjr 
these pages, into which I have poured both my 
brain and heart, for I should hate to write a book 
in which my heart was not engaged. 

I have quoted very little in these pages from 
Pre-Millennialists, but have given considerable 
space to extracts from our brethren of the other 
school. This is done for two reasons. (1) That it 
may be shown that I have presented their views 
aright I have let them speak for themselves. 
(2) That the absurdities of their scheme of inter- 
pretation may be apparent. Some of my remarks 
on the subject, that is, my strictures upon their 
teachings, may seem a little caustic. I would not 
wish to be severe toward any man or set of men, 
for many of them are, indeed, brethren beloved. 
Their errors, however, are hurtful to experience, 
damaging to correct Scripture exegesis, and per- 
versive of New Testament Christianity. I do not 
hesitate, therefore, to condemn without measure 
what I believe to be an unscriptural and hurtful 
dogma, and am fully responsible for every utterance 



Proem. 1 1 

in these pages. In the light of God's Revealed Word, 
Post-Millennialism has no foundation, no support 
whatever, and I feel ready to sustain this proposi- 
tion anywhere. 

The views presented in these pages, touching the 
continued population of the earth beyond the 
Judgment, will doubtless be new to many of our 
readers. There is, indeed, very little in current 
literature touching this phase of the question. We 
believe, however, the case has been made out from 
the Scriptures. We ask for a candid, prayerful, 
thorough reading of the book, and a careful inves- 
tigation of its teachings. We have striven faith- 
fully to present only truth. In so far as we have 
succeeded, we believe God will bless the effort. 
Whatever mistakes or errors may have crept into 
these pages, I trust the reader may be enabled to 
detect and discard. For the truth, let God be 
praised; for the error, if any, let the unworthy 
writer bear the full blame. May the blessings of 
the triune God rest alike upon writer and reader. 

In love of the truth, and in Gospel fellowship, I 
remain the friend and brother of every true child 
of God. 

L. L. Pickett. 
Wilmore, Ky., May, 1903. 



The Fall of Man—Its Extent. 



This earth was made for man. It was given as 
his home and inheritance from the beneficent Cre- 
ator. Adam had complete lordship of earth, and 
every living creature on it. It was well adapted as 
the place of his residence, a holy, happy, sinless 
and deathless world. It was a mark of God's in- 
finite love .and compassion, a token of peculiar 
favor. God pronounced everything that He had 
made "good." Gen. 1:31. There was on the earth 
no sin and none of the consequences thereof. Be- 
fore the fall of man the earth was an Eden and God 
planted the garden "eastward in Eden." So beau- 
tiful and fertile was it that every need of man's 
life and every legitimate appetite could be proper- 
ly and fully supplied without toil or effort. While 
our first parents maintained their purity, they con- 
tinued to abide amid the boundless blessings of 
this garden. When there was no sin on earth, 
there was, as a consequence, no disease, no death, 
no poverty and no hardship, no devouring famine 
and no wasting pestilence. There were no sor- 
rows, no afflictions, none of the numberless evils 
that to-day blight the world because of sin. But 
man transgressed, his sin involved his expulsion 
from the garden, his moral debasement, his phys- 
ical, spiritual, and eventually his eternal death. In 
losing holiness, Adam lost all the Edenic happin< 



14 The Renewed Earth. 

and glory, and entailed a fearful curse upon his 
entire progeny. The effects of the fall are not 
confined to man! , The curse rests upon the entire 
earth, both animate and inanimate. Yea, more, 
the whole creation is in some sad way involved in 
anguish and trouble through the dire and destruc- 
tive effects of the primal transgression. The very 
earth itself is, in some unexplainable manner, en- 
tangled with the evil and with the debasing conse- 
quences of the sin of our foreparents. God said 
to Adam: 

; ' Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, 
and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, say- 
ing, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy 
sake: in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; 

' 'Thorns also and thistles shall it bring" forth to thee; and 
thou shalt eat the herb of the field: 

"In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou re- 
turn unto the ground: for out of it wast thou taken: for dust 
thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return/' Gen. 3:17-19. 

This is a remarkable passage. It throws light 
upon many subjects. It displays to a remarkable 
extent the fearful consequences and disastrous 
. effects of the transgression. Through it we learn 
"the exceeding sinfulness of sin." It would seem 
that no sane man would continue in sin when he 
sees its widespread, its awful, its indescribable 
effects. Surely it is only evil, and is worthy of the 
most intense and deathless hatred. By means of 
sin, darkness fell upon the earth, and gross dark- 
ness upon its inhabitants. Because of sin, holiness 
was driven from the earth, innocence was ex- 



The Fall of Man— Its Extent. 15 

changed for guilt, and death overcame life. But 
for the redeeming grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, 
earth might have been turned into hell. 
We might observe the effects of the fall: 

I. Upon Man. 

Having been made the lord of creation, he for- 
feited his standing with God and his dominion of 
the world very largely, and this all because of sin. 
Having violated the laws of God, man has been 
forced throughout the ages to bear the sad conse- 
quences of his sin. He sees its evil effects on the 
world about him, and feels its sting in his own 
body. We may be sure that our first parents were 
a beautiful pair. Look at them in the garden that 
God planted ! How erect their carriage, how per- 
fect their form, how entrancing their features, 
what exquisite beauty, what attractive personality 
and individuality; with clear eye, beautiful features 
and entrancing expression, Adam and Eve, free 
from sickness and pain, walked in happy fellow- 
ship with each other, and in blessed communion 
with God, until the sad and fearful hour when, 
through the enticements of the serpent, they de- 
parted from God, and fell, with a crash that has re- 
sounded through the centuries, to the very depths 
of degradation, of horror and a final hell, except 
through redeeming grace. We are glad that the 
grace of God will save the sinner, and the wonder- 
ful power of our Lord Jesus Christ will eventually 
restore everything belonging to this earth to 
pristine beauty and happiness. 



1 6 The Renewed Earth. 

The Scriptures teach that man, like God, is atri- 
unity, i. e., he is a being, consisting of three essen- 
tial and distinct personalities, so united and blended 
as to become but one man. God himself is a trinity, 
Father, Son and Holy Ghost, one God ; so man 
possesses in himself this triunity of being, body, 
soul and spirit. The destructive effects of the fall 
reached the entire being, perverting the will, cor- 
rupting the affections, thereby poisoning the inner 
and destroying the outer life. Sin in man takes 
effect, first, in the inner life. It springs up in the 
imagination, pollutes the thought, breaks down 
the faith, and, working outward, produces all man- 
ner of impurity and wickedness, the most debasing 
and damnable. When once the spring is poisoned, 
the stream flowing from it becomes corrupt. So the 
heart of man, becoming wicked and perverse, is as 
a filthy fountain, sending forth streams of impuri- 
ty. The whole man is thereby debased, and the 
character debauched and polluted, even unto the 
destruction of soul and body. Theologians tell us 
that man is totally depraved. Whether the propo- 
sition is true has been debated by many able 
tongues and pens. We suppose that total depravity 
refers to the relation of man to his Maker; it is the 
utter perversion of the soul. Nothing of God and 
holiness, of pure and spiritual life, remains in the 
totally depraved man. There may be certain good 
desires and impulses, certain kindly deeds, in the 
unrenewed heart. But there is none of God, none 
of that holiness that belongs to the character of 
our infinite Creator, left in the hardened life of the 



The Fall of Man — Its Extent. 17 

unrenewed man. In this sense, and to this extent, 
he is certainly totally depraved. Bible descriptions 
of the wickedness of the human heart, are graphic, 
certainly true, and consequently overwhelming. 

"And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in 
the earth, and that every imagination of the thought of his 
heart was only evil continually." Genesis 6:5. 

We all know what the imagination is, how it is a 
picture-chamber of the soul. There thoughts 
breed, pictures are created, desires are begotten, 
and conduct is formulated. We read in Proverbs, 
"As he thinketh in his heart, so is he." (23:7.) 
And this is certainly true: "Out of the abundance 
of the heart, the mouth speaketh." From a cor- 
rupt and debased heart will proceed a wicked and 
debauched life. Paul tells us that "evil communi- 
cations corrupt good manners." 1 Cor. 15:33. A 
man of filthy speech is a source of poison to any 
one who lends him a listening ear. A corrupt pic- 
ture is debasing to him who looks thereon. No one 
should hang a picture in his home or carry it with 
him in such state of dress or undress as he would 
be ashamed were the picture that of his mother, 
sister, wife or daughter. I am bound to believe 
that the nude in art is inexcusable — a source of 
moral debasement and spiritual putrefaction. A 
book that is full of vile suggestion is one of the 
devil's strongest agencies for the pollution of 
heart and life of men. Some of us have known 
preachers, even, who delighted in telling "smul 
anecdotes." Such men are a foul blot upon their 



1 8 The Renewed Earth. 

profession. A man of impure speech simply ad- 
vertises to the world the state of his heart. There 
will never be any soot up the chimney except there 
be lire in the fireplace, and there will never be any 
filthy speech upon the tongue except there be pol- 
lution in the heart. An impure heart is necessa- 
rily a stranger to a holy God. The perversion of 
the heart means the corruption of the life, conse- 
quent death of character and the final damnation 
of the triune being. 

"The earth also was corrupt before God; and the earth was 
filled with violence. 

"And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was cor- 
rupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth." 
Gen. 6:11,12. 

Universal wickedness and consequent violence 
proceed from the corrupt fountain of the deceitful 
heart, which is ' 'desperately wicked." Jer. 17:9. 
For a full-length portrait of the total depravity of 
man, read the first and third chapters of Romans. 
The Master also portrays the exceeding sinfulness 
of the human heart in the following language: 

"For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil 
thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, 

"Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, 
an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness." Mark 7:21,22. 

All sin originates in the heart, but it does not all 
stop there. It pours forth as a destructive stream 
through the entire being, body, soul and spirit. 

Not only does sin debase the spiritual life 
and breed all manner of wickedness in conduct, 



The Fall of Man — Its Extent. 19 

but it has brought a chain of untold evils upon the 
body of man. Death, with disease in all its horrid 
forms, results from sin. But for transgressions 
there never would have been an ache or pain, a 
chill or fever, an ague, a consumption, a neuralgia 
or rheumatism, a sorrow, an affliction or anguish 
of any kind. Observe the bent form of decrepit 
age, the twisted body of the suffering rheumatic, 
the empty sleeve of him whose arm has been am- 
putated. See the hollow chest of the consumptive, 
or the pallid cheek of the long-time sufferer, and 
remember that sin is the source of all the trouble. 
The body of man was made not only as the tem- 
ple of his spirit, but also of the Spirit of God. 
Beyond doubt Adam was a noble specimen of the 
divine handiwork. The exceeding loveliness of the 
first pair would, no doubt, be an astonishment to 
mortals of our day. But sin has changed it all. 
Behold, ye who have forgotten God, and see what 
the fall has done for our race! See that form, once 
so erect and beautiful. It is now bending with age. 
Those limbs, once so lithe and perfect are now fal- 
tering, halting, trembling and tottering toward the 
grave. Those eyes, once so bright and clear, are 
now fading, and present a lackluster appearance. 
Those nerves, once so strong and vigorous, are to- 
day racked with pain. The blood, once so healthy 
and pure, to-day courses sluggishly through the 
veins. That hair, once so luxuriant and beautiful, 
is now turning gray, or falling away. Those mus- 
cles, once so powerful, are now weak and trem- 
bling. Thus, throughout this beautiful temple of 



20 The Renewed Earth. 

God, this handiwork divine, we find death and dis- 
solution. He who was made to live forever, even 
as the angels of God, is now, with staff in hand 
and halting step, tottering onward to the grave. 
But for sin there never would have been a wound 
or bruise, an ache or pain, in limb or head, in 
ear or eye, in muscle or in tooth. But for sin, 
never would weeping mourners have gathered 
around the cot of the dying, or marched in solemn 
procession to the cemetery, there to deposit the 
remains of a loved one in the cold and silent grave. 
But for sin, there never would have been an un- 
supplied want, an unsatiated appetite, a sorrow of 
heart or a tear of sadness. 

Many of the greatest afflictions of men are in the 
heart, in the affectional nature, rather than in the 
body. The hair has been known to turn gray in a 
single night, from fright or uneasiness. The great- 
est sufferings of the race are internal, such as be- 
reavements, anguish of heart, remorse of conscience 
— how this does gnaw the heart-strings ! And these 
aches of heart, these troubles of spirit, cannot be 
relieved by the anaesthetics of the physician. There 
are sorrows that sting for time, and blight, appar- 
ently, for eternity. But they all are the offspring 
of sin, the consequence of the primal transgression 
of God's holy law. A drunken son may be shot 
down in a debauch, he lingers in pain for a few hours 
and dies, but the mother carries the agony of a 
breaking heart, of shame and sorrow indescribable, 
through rolling years. 



The Fall of Man — Its Extent. 21 

II. The Human FAkiLY. 

If we broaden our view from the individual to 
the family, the community, the State or the na- 
tion, yea, to the limits of the world, we find the 
same sad results of the fall. Man everywhere is 
under the curse, through its dire effects the home is 
blighted, the offspring are demoralized, the commu- 
nity is afflicted, anarchy sweeps the State, and war 
desolates the nations. The scythe of the destroyer 
cuts down the countless millions of the race, be- 
ginning even with the unborn, and sweeping on 
through all ages and ranks to the decrepit old man. 
Not alone wast thou involved, O Adam, but thy un- 
born offspring fell with thee! Sin disturbs all con- 
ditions. No power can stay its ravages, no wealth 
can exempt from its sufferings, no philosophy can 
relieve its pains and aches. Through it, the sage 
goes trembling to the tomb, even as the fool; the 
monarch becomes food for worms as certainly as 
the lone wanderer on the islands bare; tears flow 
as freely in the mansion as in the hovel; the heart 
bleeds as surely in the palace of the capitalist as 
in the hut of the poor. Osin! thou infernal spirit, 
born of the pit, how long wilt thou hold sway over 
a desolated and suffering race! O death! thou 
child of sin, thou grandchild of Beelzebub, how 
long wilt thou continue to mow down the suffering 
victims of man's fall and transgression! 

III. The Brute Creation. 

In some sad, inexplicable way, the poor dumb 
brutes have become involved in the consequen 



22 The Renewed Earth. 

of the fall. Through no sin of their own, they 
have, nevertheless, fallen under the sad effects of 
the sin of their liege lord. Adam's transgression, 
sad to think! did not stop in its effects with him, 
or with his descendants after the flesh, nor does it 
ye t. There is a remarkable passage in the writings 
of Paul. 

"For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for 
the manifestation of the sons of God. 

,; For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willing- 
ly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in 
hope; 

^'Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from 
the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the 
children of God. 

"For we know that the whole creation groaneth and 
travaileth in pain together until now." Eom. 8:19-22. 

The word "creature" here is quite frequently 
rendered by critical scholars "creation." See Re- 
vised Version, Rotherham, etc. Thus the passage 
may be broader in its meaning than we have usual- 
ly considered it. I do not care to enter into a full 
discussion of it in this place. The whole creation, 
so far as its relation to this world is concerned, is 
under the sad effects of the fall. It certainly in- 
volves the whole brute family; in fact, this is clear 
to any observer. We find them not only subject to 
death, but to injustice, to cruelty, always inexcus- 
able and at times well-nigh indescribable. The 
faithful horse is frequently over- worked, half-fed. 
insufficiently watered, and then, adding injustice to 
injury, it is not infrequently left unblanketed and 



The Fall of Man — Its Extent. 23 

unsheltered in the severest weather. The affec- 
tionate watch-dog is often half-starved, and at 
times even receives stones and kicks in return for 
the kindness and affection displayed toward his 
master. The height of cruelty, of wicked and re- 
fined cruelty, is reached in the vivisection room. 
Many of our readers may not understand the term 
' 'vivisection." It refers to a practice in surgical 
colleges, where animals are dissected while yet 
alive. The helpless dumb brute is fastened and 
cut to pieces little by little, that the practitioner 
and student may examine the nerves and various 
structure of the inner parts of the body. A horse, 
a cat or dog, is thus at times left to suffer until, from 
sheer pain and exhaustion, death comes to its re- 
lief. A foot is cut open to-day, and every nerve 
dissected and analyzed; the jaw will be slit to-mor- 
row, the side opened next day, another foot the clay 
following, and thus it continues, with no relief, not 
even an anaesthetic administered, until the agon- 
ized sufferer, friendless and helpless, after days 
that seem to the poor victim more than weeks, 
breathes its last from sheer exhaustion, unmixed suf- 
fering and indescribable pain. And all this folly and 
wickedness is practiced under the plea of "science." 
Inexcusable, pernicious cruelty, palmed off on the 
world in the name of science! Such process can 
only result in a hardening of the feelings of the 
surgeon and a debasing cruelty on the part of the 
student. But it is one of the many sad effects 
the original transgression of God's law. 

Indeed, the curse is on the animal creation, the 



24 The Renewed Earth. 

world over. War and strife between the various 
members of the brute family is one of the results. 
It seems as though they have become so rapacious 
under the effects of the fall that they are not satis- 
fied to be oppressed at the hand of man, but they 
must fight and devour, tear and rend each other. 
The whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain. 
Why? Because of the fall of man, whom God 
appointed earth's sovereign and lord. But, thank 
God ! redemption looms in the distance, relief lies 
just ahead. The suffering creation shall see "the 
manifestation of the sons of God." 

IV. The Earth. 

The very ground itself is under the curse. 
Reader, had you observed this fact? Please notice 
the sentence as pronounced from the lips of the Al- 
mighty: 

"Cursed is the ground for thy sake; thorns and thistles 
shall it bring forth unto thee." Gen. 3:17-19. 

"Cursed is the ground!" What a marvelous 
thing ! how strange ! And yet it is God who speaks, 
and every word in this awful sentence is confirmed 
by history and before our own eyes. Men have 
sought to locate the garden of Eden. Bishop 
Keener, I believe, has endeavored to establish the 
fact that it was in South Carolina. Others have 
naturally located it in Asia, the cradle of the hu- 
man race. Near to it we find Ethiopia, Assyria, 
the Euphrates and other well-known geographical 
points. But where the garden may have been lo- 



The Fall of Man — Its Extent. 25 

cated counts for little. We are told that God 
planted it ''eastward in Eden." Gen. 3:8. Eden 
is evidently, therefore, larger than the garden. 
Who knows but that Eden represents the entire 
earth, while the garden was a select spot, for the 
habitation of the first pair in their innocence? It 
does seem that the whole earth in those days of 
pristine purity and glory was Edenic. None of the 
effects of the fall were to be seen upon it anywhere. 
This was a pure, holy, happy, sinless and unsuffer- 
ing world. But, how sad to say, the whole of this 
earth is involved in the fall of him who was ap- 
pointed to have dominion over it, the first Adam. 
When Jesus returns to reign on earth He shall 
come as "the Son of man," the unf alien Head and 
representative of the race. 

Among the effects of the fall upon the earth it- 
self we may readily see and easily determine the 
following: 

(a) Disease. 

In the present order of things, disease, dire, 
death-dealing disease, lurks in the water we drink, 
in the air we breathe, yea, in the very earth upon 
which we tread. Its miasmas and pestilential 
vapors mean death to man. From the earth itself 
spring forth our agues and fevers, our neuralgic 
affections and our rheumatisms, our coughs and 
consumptions, our cancers and running sores, our 
bubonic and other deadly plagues of every kind 
and description. Death lurks in the soil, hides in 
the shade, hangs in the vapor and "rides on every 
passing breeze." 



26 The Renewed Earth. 

(b) Fruitlessness. 

It is certain that Adam and Eve did not have to 
toil for their living before they sinned. They 
were as free from care as the bird that warbles its 
flute-like note of praise to its Creator from tree- 
top in May morning. God fed and clothed them — 
such clothing as they needed in the time of their 
innocence — and no toil on their part was required; 
but after the transgression the sentence goes forth, 
"Cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt 
thou eat of it all the days of thy life." "In the 
sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread." The curse 
in this place is not upon man — that has been pro- 
nounced elsewhere — it is, instead, upon the earth. 
Upon the soil, which had. once provided him abun- 
dant sustenance without toil, he is now forced to 
labor diligently in order to provide that which he 
shall eat. It is highly probable that in Edenic 
conditions the fertility of the earth was so marvel- 
ous that a very small plot of it, perhaps an acre, 
would produce more than could be consumed by a 
large family. Its comparative fruitlessness is the 
result of the curse, and thereby man is forced to 
earn his bread by diligence, by toil and labor and 
pain. 

(c) Nauseous weeds. 

Not only did the earth cease its fertility in 
those spontaneous fruits that were adapted 
to man's sustenance in his innocent condition, 
but it forthwith manifested a peculiar and hith- 
erto unheard of fertility, viz., in the production 
of thorns and thistles and briers— of those hurt- 



The Fall of Man — Its Extent. 27 

ful, noxious, nauseating weeds, that foster disease 
and bring trouble to man, hindering the growth 
of useful fruits, vegetables, and the like. Thus 
the curse works in a double way upon the vegeta- 
tion of the earth. It is rendered much less pro- 
ductive of useful things, of such as are suitable for 
food, and on the other hand, very fruitful has it 
become in the hurtful, poisonous things, such as 
were utterly unknown in Eden. The seeds from 
which we harvest our bread have to be planted in 
prepared ground, and cultivated with sweat and 
toil, while the thistles and the thorns grow spon- 
taneously. To this day, man's living is procured 
by a ceaseless fight with the noxious weeds which 
came because of the curse. How the farmer has 
to plow for his wheat, his corn, his fruits and veg- 
etables, his rice, cotton, hemp, and other useful 
products! But who ever has to sow thistles, or 
plant thorns, cockleburrs, crab-grass, etc., etc.? 
The curse answers the whole question. It is upon 
the whole earth, resting on the ground everywhere, 
and alike upon man and beast. 

Yet other features of this material curse may be 
found in the earth. We refer to earthquakes, 
storms of every kind, the hurricane, the cyclone, 
the tornado, the whirlwind, etc. Never was there 
a devastating cyclone in the happy Eden bowers, 
or a destructive earthquake in those blissful days. 
Had the race remained true to God, destrucl 
would have doubtless been to this day as unknown 
on earth as in the Holy City above — the deathless 
home of God and the unfallen angels. 



28 The Renewed Earth. 

Thus we see the dire effects of the fall every- 
where, on man and beast, in earth and air and sky. 
Shall the race ever be restored, and the earth freed 
from the curse? It certainly shall. Thank God! 



Extent of the Redemption. 29 

CHAPTER II. 
Extent of the Redemption. 



Having considered the extent of the fall, we will 
now take a brief glance at those Scriptures which 
promise a restoration of the earth. We observe 
that the Word of God holds out a full redemption 
from the curse. The Scriptures which portray the 
triumph of Christ are numerous and full of en- 
couragement. Observe the following Scriptural 
promises: 

1. World-wide dominion of Christ. (Psa. 72:8-11.) 

"He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the 
river unto the ends of the earth. 

"They that dwell in the wilderness shall bow before him; 
and his enemies shall lick the dust. 

"The kings of Tarshish and of the isles shall bring pres- 
ents; the kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts. 

"Yea, all kings shall fall down before him; all nations shall 
serve him." 

Among all nations He shall be acknowledged 
King; the sceptre of His authority shall be recog- 
nized on land and sea, even to the utmost extent of 
the world. The rich, together with the poor, shall 
serve Him; kings, with peasants, shall do Him 
homage. 

2. God's house shall be exalted. In the prophecy 
of Isaiah we read, "The mountain of the Lord's 



3<D The Renewed Earth. 

house shall be established in the top of the moun- 
tains, and shall be exalted above the hills, and all 
nations shall flow unto it." (Isa. 2:2.) 

This indicates the triumph of the gospel of re- 
deeming love. The house of the Lord evidently 
stands for the Church or the spirit that prevails 
among the saved. The prophecy therefore indi- 
cates the spiritual victories of Christ among men, 
even throughout all the nations of the earth. 

3. Universal Peace. <k They shall beat their 
swords into plowshares, and their spears into 
pruning hooks (or scythes, margin); nation shall 
not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they 
learn war any more. " (Isa. 2:4.) That will be a 
wonderful time, when war and strife shall cease, 
when the victories of peace shall be celebrated in 
all lands and languages, when weapons of destruc- 
tion shall be converted into implements for the cul- 
tivation of the soil, and for the harvesting of the 
abundant increase which God shall bestow upon 
the labors of his people. At present millions upon 
millions are spent for the support of armies, the 
building of navies and the preparation of ordnance. 
Glorious will be the day when the prophetic 
promise is fulfilled, "They shall not hurt nor de- 
stroy in all my holy mountain." (Isa, 11?9.) 

4. Earth, the inheritance of the meek. 

"But the meek shall inherit the earth: and shall delight 
themselves in the abundance of peace." (Psalm 37:11.) 

"Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth." 
(Matt. 5:5.) 



Extent of the Redemption. 31 

This blessed condition is as yet far from realiza- 
tion. The wealth and power of the world is very 
largely in the hands of those who use it for selfish 
purposes, of such as know not God. But in the 
day of His triumph, the humble-hearted poor of 
the earth shall be the possessors of the kingdom, 
the giory the honor and wealth of the nations. 
The saints are at present like a child under age, 
they have not entered upon their inheritance. But 
God has said it, they shall inherit the earth. Its 
greatness and glory shall be theirs; its crowns and 
kingdoms, wrenched from the spoiler, shall be the 
possession of the meek, humble-hearted followers 
of the lowly Lamb. 

5. The heathen as Christ's inheritance. 

u Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine in- 
heritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy pos- 
session." (Psalm 2:8.) 

This promise is to the only-begotten Son.. While 
His saints inherit the earth, He shall inherit the 
people thereof, the heathen shall become His. The 
nations of the earth to its utmost bounds shall ren- 
der Him a glad and loving obedience, for they shall 
be His inheritance. 

6. Ail Israel justified. 

1 But Israel shall be saved in the Lord with an everlasting 
salvation; ye shall not be ashamed nor confounded world 
without end. 

"In the Lord shall all the seed of Israel be justified, and 
shall glory.'' (Isa. 45:17, 25.) 

We have seen prophetic announcement of the 
time when the heathen shall have submitted to 



32 The Renewed Earth. 

Christ, even all the nations of the earth. What of 
Israel? For many centuries her tribes have been 
scattered. They have -wandered homeless, heavy- 
hearted, sad and desolate up and down the earth. 
Weary of heart, and sore of foot, they have longed 
for the land of their fathers, but have longed in 
vain. But eventually as a people their sins will be 
forgiven, having filled up the measure of their 
wickedness, they shall hear the gentle voice of their 
Shepherd calling them back to His fold. Then, 
saved w 7 ith an everlasting salvation, Israel shall 
glory in the Lord, and shall love Him truly and 
serve Him faithfully. (Zeph. 3:17-20.) 

7. Every knee shall bow, every tongue confess. 
God the Father has pledged to His only-begotten 
Son the homage of every creature in heaven and 
in earth. 

c 'That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of 
things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the 
earth: 

"And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ 
is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.'* (Phil. 2:10, 11 J 

''His name shall be great." The magic power 
of the human name of our Lord, the name "Jesus/' 
shall be recognized throughout the Universe. Not 
only on earth shall He be praised, but in highest 
heaven shall His name be all-glorious. Even the 
denizens of hell shall tremble at His power and 
bend the knee at His name. To the tempted, strug- 
gling soul, there is comfort and victory in this 
name. The crown of all earth's empires shall be 



Extent of the Redemption. 33 

on His head, the sceptre of all its governments shall 
be in His hand. His honor and glory none shall 
take away. But before the light of His counte- 
nance, the sins and sorrows of earth shall flee away 
to return no more. 

8. Every creature throughout the Universe shall 
do Him homage. 

"And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, 
and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and ail that 
are in them, heard I saying, Blessing", and honour, and 
glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, 
and unto the Lamb for ever and ever. ' (Rev. 5:13.) 

This is a remarkable scene as witnessed by St. 
John. Not only do all the intelligent creatures of 
heaven worship Him, but every living thing on the 
earth and under the earth join in confessing His 
majesty and glory. What is meant by the creatures 
in the sea and ' 'under the earth?" Does it actually 
mean that the devil and demons join in the univer- 
sal ascription of praise? Or has it reference only 
to the dead? A dogmatic answer may not be given. 
It probably refers only to the dead, since there is 
in the verse an element of praise and apparent 
gladness. It surely cannot mean that fallen angels 
find in Christ their redemption. And yet we are 
met with the same difficulty if we confine it to the 
dead, for they all join in the grand prcan of praise. 
4 'Every creature," not simply the saved, but all, 
unite in crying, ' 'Blessing and honor and glory 
unto the Lamb." Whoever may be included, we 
readily discern that there is unity o( action, har- 
3 



34 The Renewed Earth. 

mony of utterance, and agreement in the swelling 
chorus of praise; not a dissentient voice may be 
heard, not a note of discord from the vast and un- 
counted throngs. This picture is witnessed from 
the throne and belongs apparently to eternity, but 
what of this world? How about the battlefield, on 
which has been waged the war of the ages? Shall 
every scene of carnage end, every groan cease, 
every sigh vanish, and the bloody battlefield blos- 
som as the rose? Thank God, it shall. 

9. The rejoicing desert. 

"The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for 
them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose. 

"It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy 
and singing: the glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it, 
the excellency of Carmel and Sharon; they shall see the 
glory of the Lord, and the excellency of our God. 

"Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears 
of the deaf shall be unstopped." (Isa. 35:1,2,6.) 

Under sin, joy is turned to mourning and praise 
to sadness. Blight and mildew and death have 
fallen upon the fair places of the earth because of 
transgression. The view, therefore, given us by 
the prophet of a blossoming desert and a rejoicing 
wilderness is full of comfort. Through divine 
power the lame, made whole, shall be leaping as 
the hart and the tongue of the dumb singing for 
joy. Eternal praise to the triune God. 

10. Earth, filled with His knowledge and glory. 

"For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the 
glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea." (Habakkuk 
2:14.) 



Extent of the Redemption. 35 

"They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: 
for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as 
the waters cover the sea," (Isa. 11:9.) 

To a student of history, accustomed to the groans 
of the dying, the agony and anguish of the race, 
the desolation and ruin wrought through the rav- 
ages of sin, these verses of scripture gild the dark 
picture with hope and set the heart a-singing. The 
prophet has said concerning the world as it is that 
4 'The dark places of the earth are full of the habi- 
tations of cruelty." (Psa. 74:20.) When we think 
of heathenism and witness the burning of the 
widow upon the funeral pyre of her husband, and 
see the helpless babe thrown far out upon the 
bosom of the death-strewn Ganges, when we go 
into the bloody islands of the sea and behold the 
cannibal devouring his victim, or see the help- 
less prisoner burned at the stake on some trumped- 
up charge, our hearts grow sick, and we instinc- 
tively cry out, "How long, O Lord, how long, ere 
the earth shall be filled with thy knowledge and 
glory?" But as sure as the Bible is inspired, and 
God reigns in the heavens, the vices of men shall 
cease, the wickedness of the earth shall pass away. 
and the beauty and blessedness of Eden shall be 
restored to our world, so long saddened by the fear- 
ful ravages of sin. The knowledge of God is glory, 
and His glory shall fill the earth. 

11. Christ shall destroy every Satanic work. 
There is a passage often quoted by preachers, and 
yet which contains much more than is generally at- 
tributed to it. We refer to 1 Jno. 3:8, where it is 



36 The Renewed Earth. 

said, "For this purpose was the Son of God man- 
ifested, that He might destroy the works of the 
devil." This certainly is a guarantee of the de- 
struction of sin. Not only shall wickedness be over- 
thrown, but all its dire effects. Not only shall every 
sin be rooted out of the earth, but also every evil 
caused by it. Every disease shall be eliminated, 
and every graveyard effaced. We may be sure that 
Christ is more than a match for Satan. If this be 
true, we may confidently expect the overthrow of 
every vestige of the fall and the perfect purgation 
of the earth. God has pledged Himself to the ut- 
ter destruction of every form of evil in the earth. 
12. All shall know Him. 

"But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the 
house of Israel; After those days, saith the Lord, I will put 
my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts: 
and will be their God, and they shall be my people. 

"And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, 
and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for they 
shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest 
of them, saith the Lord: for I will forgive their iniquity, and 
I will remember their sin no more." (Jer. 31:33,34.) 

Since the fall, there has never been a time when 
the inhabitants of this earth knew God to any great 
extent. Those who have served Him have been few, 
in comparison with the vast multitudes of the 
slaves of sin. From the toddling child to the tot- 
tering grandfather sin has held sway in the vast 
majority of earth's homes over the uncounted mil- 
lions of earth's hearts. But it shall not always be 
so; the law of the Most High shall be written in the 



Extent of the Redemption. 37 

hearts of men and from the least to the greatest 
they shall be brought to know Him. To know Him 
is life, to abide with Him is peace, to have His in- 
dwelling is purity and power. Hail the happy day, 
when in all the broad earth not a soul shall be found 
but shall know and love God! 

WHEN SHALL THESE THINGS BE? 

Having laid out for our study a prophetic por- 
trait of earth's redemption, we must enter upon a 
field of investigation that involves more or less of 
controversy. There are two schools of prophetic 
study. They are known as Pre- and Post-Millen- 
nialists. The former class believe in the fulfill- 
ment of all these prophecies to the letter, but hold 
that the personal, bodily and visible return of our 
Lord to the earth must precede the accomplish- 
ment of the glorious prophecies we have examined. 
The latter school teach that all there is of redemp- 
tion for the race as a race must be brought about 
by the gospel in the present dispensation. The 
writer is decidedly a Pre-Millennialist. We shall 
submit a few extracts from prominent advocates of 
the Post- Millennial view, and shall attempt to point 
out the defects in their system of teaching and to 
bring the truth according to God's Word before our 
readers. 

POST-MILLENNIAL VIEWS. 

Our brethren of the Post-Millennial faith do not 
believe the coming of the Lord in personal glory 
and power is near. They expect the fulfillment of 



38 The Renewed Earth. 

those prophecies which promise the subjugation of 
the earth to Jesus by present agencies, simply by 
the spread of the Gospel. Rev. C. C. Cary says: "If 
the world is ever brought to Christ, it will be done 
by present gospel agencies, which Jesus Christ or- 
dained, and which have been used ever since He left 
the world." "If the world is never converted till 
Christ comes, then it will never be converted at all, 
for when He comes probation ceases, the world 
ends, and the Judgment begins." Thus we can see 
that He very radically denies the possibility of sal- 
vation after the return of Jesus, and contends that 
all salvation work must be done before our Lord's 
coming. Again he says: 'There will be no sharp- 
ly defined line recognized at the time, which will 
divide the present state of the world from the Mil- 
lennium, nor will it be introduced suddenly by 
some extraordinary event. It will come so grad- 
ually that it will hardly be known at the time." As 
might be expected, our brother is not looking for 
the coming of Jesus. Again we quote: "The 
writer has no hesitation in saying that he cannot 
see anything whatever in the light of the Scrip- 
tures which at all indicates the near approach of 
Christ's second coming." We are not therefore 
surprised to hear him say of himself, "With thous- 
ands of his fellowmen, he will not live to see the 
coming of the Lord." These extracts are all taken 
from his recent book, "The Second Coming of 
Christ," from pages 68, 67, 66, 86 and 53, in the or- 
der here given. How can the brother reconcile 
this last statement with the teachings of the Mas- 



Extent of the Redemption. 39 

ter in Matt. 24:44-51 and Mark 13:34-37, in which 
He bids us constantly, ' 'Watch. " In denying the 
twofold resurrection, as taught by Pre-Millena- 
rians, our good brother says, "All men, good and 
bad, will be finally raised from the grave at one 
time." (Page 19.) He is certainly determined to 
show the world that he differs with John, who 
speaks of the first and second resurrections (Rev. 
20), and with Paul, who speaks of the saints rising 
"first." (1 Thess. 4.) Just w r hy a Christian minis- 
ter should take pains to differ with God's Word is 
hard to understand. But it is characteristic of Post- 
Millennialists. 

Rev. Richard Abbey, another minister of the 
Southern Methodist Church, as is Bro. Cary, and 
who in his day was one of the foremost of South- 
ern theological writers, says, "Existing processes 
will continue, and produce, naturally, a millennial 
condition of the world. Christianity will go on 
and accomplish its work fully. It will make all 
'righteous' after awhile. The millennium that is 
to be suddenly 'ushered in' is contrary to reason. 
The beginning of the true millennial state will not 
be datable. It has begun already. " Again we read 
from him, "From all that we read in the Word of 
God, as well as from all the reasoning we are able 
to apply to the subject, it seems clear that this 
change will be brought about by natural causes 
now in operation, and that it will come about grad- 
ually, and not suddenly." (Diuturnily, pages L50, 
151.) This brother is a strong writer, and he leaves 
us in no doubt as to his views concerning the sal- 



40 The Renewed Earth. 

vation of the world in this dispensation. Speak- 
ing of the Gospel, he says, "Its end and office is 
the restoration of all this world to the love, obedi- 
ence, and favor of God." (Ibid, p. 271.) Bro. Cary 
is asking that the Pre-Millennialists all get to- 
gether; from his book, previously quoted, we read: 
"At the millennium, the world will be converted, but 
speaking more accurately, it will then be evangel- 
ized, and not literally converted, for the actual con- 
version of every man will never be realized while 
the world stands, and this is admitted even by many 
Pre-Millenarians. The world will be so far con- 
verted that men generally will believe in the divinity 
of Christ and the truth of His religion, but all men 
will not so far accept Christ as to become regener- 
ated." (Page 58.) Against this, we quote from Mr. 
Abbey, "In the regular course of the history of 
this world, a time will come when universal holi- 
ness will pervade the human family; then not a per- 
son — accountable for his conduct — will be found in 
all the earth but a sanctified Christian. In this pe- 
riod sin will not be seen — it will not be committed." 
Yet again, "The natural and religious processes and 
agencies now at work must bring about the sinless 
period, of which Scriptures speaks so abundantly." 
Once more, ' 'Christianity predicates salvation not 
only of individual persons, but of the race." Come, 
brethren, you Post-Millennialists must "get to- 
gether." 

One further extract will suffice, "Everything that 
sin injured will be rectified, cured, renovated, 
brought back to its proper, natural place and use, 



Extent of the Redemption. 41 

as God at first intended. The system of remedy, 
in and through Christ, will not be partial, but abso- 
lute complete. The benefits of the atonement will 
reach and cover every inch of ground which in any 
and every way was touched or affected by the sin 
of Adam." (Diuturnity, pages 147, 155, 180, 273.) 
Yet he admits: kk The great mass of mankind, seven 
in ten, have almost no views of religion at all. They 
are a living mass of corruption and ignorance." 
(P. 101.) "It may be very safely doubted," says he, 
"whether there are a million of pious persons in 
the world." 

If the world has stood 6,000 years, and has at 
present but 1,000,000 real, true Christians, as per 
Mr. Abbey, and if the population of earth is in- 
creasing at the rate of 10,000,000 annually, how 
long will it take to bring the world up to the point 
"when universal holiness will pervade the human 
family," and not a person "be found in all the 
earth but a sanctified Christian"? 



42 The Renewed Earth. 

CHAPTER III. 
The Present Evil Age. 



"Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us 
from this present evil world, according to the will of God 
and our Father." (Gal. 1:4.) 

In a preceding chapter we have quoted some- 
what at length from Post-Millennial writers. If 
their teachings are true we should all subscribe to 
them; if false, they should be utterly rejected by 
lovers of God's Word. We can only test them ac- 
curately by the touchstone of Inspired Truth. To 
it we appeal. 

1. We observe, first, the utter absence in the 
New Testament of any suggestion even that the 
world will be converted in this age, or dispensa- 
tion. This is a remarkable omission if we are to 
believe the teachings of our Post-Millennial breth- 
ren. We have found in God's Word many prom- 
ises of the redemption of the earth, when from sea 
to sea and shore to shore our Christ shall have 
dominion. But in all the New Testament pictures 
of the present age we find no indication of the ful- 
fillment of these glorious prophecies ere our Lord's 
return. The promises of the earth's renovation 
are numerous in Scripture, but there is not a pas- 
sage we believe that can be brought into service by 
our friends of the opposite school to sustain their 



The Present Evil Age. 43 

contention that these marvelous predictions will 
have their accomplishment in our present age. 
Any student of the Bible will discover that the 
world's religious history is broken up into periods 
that are called ages or dispensations. We have, 
for example, the Edenic, the Antediluvian, the Pa- 
triarchal, the Abrahamic, and the Mosaic dispensa- 
tions. The present period is known in the New 
Testament as "the times of the Gentiles." (Luke 
21:24; Rom. 11:25.) Christ Himself has given a 
full portrait of this dispensation, this so-called 
"Christian age," down to its termination. This is 
recorded by Matthew, Mark and Luke. We will 
presently examine this picture. Before doing so, 
let us have an honest confession from a noted 
writer of the Post-Millennial school, Rev. J. Agar 
Beet, of England. In his Post-Millennial book, 
"The Last Things," he says: 

"The most serious, and the only serious, objec- 
tions to the interpretations here advocated are that 
throughout the New Testament, outside Rev. 
20:1-10, we have no hint of a long period of spirit- 
ual prosperity preceding the coming of Christ; and 
that such long period of prosperity is inconsistent 
with a hope of an early return of Christ cherished 
by some of His early followers. The absence of 
any trace of the Millennium between the confusion 
described in Matt. 24:28 and verses 29 31 is 1 
tainly remarkable. Still more so, is the absei 
of any reference to it in 2 Thess. 2:1-12, where 
Paul is warning his readers that the day of Cta 
is not at hand, saying that, before Christ comes 



44 The Renewed Earth. 

Man of Sin must first come. It may not unfairly 
be argued that, had he known of the long period 
of blessing before the coming of Christ, he would 
have mentioned it as another proof that the day of 
Christ was not near. The various indications of 
expectation of an early return of Christ are also 
inconsistent with expectation of a Millennium of 
blessing before the coming of Christ." (P. 83.) 
In his next paragraph he adds, "To this serious 
objection, I have no complete answer. " Of course, 
he attempts to deal with it, while admitting its diffi- 
culty. 

Again (p. 63), speaking of the expression in Rev. 
22^7,12,20, "I come quickly," and chapter 1:3, "the 
season is near," he says, "This conspicuous ele- 
ment of the book of Revelation stands related to 
Matt. 10:23; 16:28, and other similar passages which 
assert or suggest an early return of Christ, and 
thus reveal an expectation not justified, in the form 
in which 'it was held, by subsequent events. This 
unfulfilled expectation presents a difficulty which 
I cannot remove." This is an honest confession 
made by an honest soul. We commend it to the 
careful consideration of all our Post-Millennial 
friends. 

It will be observed that the writer we have just 
quoted claimed one exception, Rev. 20:1-6, thus 
asserting that this passage is to find its fulfillment 
prior to the coming of Christ. But herein, as well 
as in his unscriptural theory as a whole, he is mis- 
taken, for the advent of Jesus Christ as Lord of 
lords and King of kings plainly antedates the cap- 



The Present Evil Age. 45 

ture and incarceration of Satan, and the enthrone- 
ment of the saints to reign with Christ a thousand 
years, as we find by reference to Revelation 
19:6-16, where He is seen riding forth as King of 
kings. So Bro. Beet's exception is unfounded, and 
there is not a hint in the New Testament of a thou- 
sand years of peace and holiness for this earth 
when it shall be redeemed and obedient to Christ 
prior to his glorious second advent. 

1. The God op This Age. 

Not only is there an utter absence of any refer- 
ence to a Millennium of world-wide righteousness 
in our present dispensation, but there is an abun- 
dance of Scripture to furnish an overwhelming 
refutation of the baseless dream of our Post Mil- 
lennial brethren. Notice the following apostolic 
utterance : 

"In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of 
them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel 
of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them." 
(2 Cor. 4:4.) 

The word "world" in this passage is "aionos** in 
Greek, and the critical scholars commonly translate 
it by the word "age." Pickering defines it, "Of 
long duration," "lasting;" "sometimes everlasting, 
perpetual, eternal." There seems to be little rea- 
son for rendering this Greek term by the English 
word "world." Nevertheless, it has been done by 
some translators; notably, the King James. Rother- 
ham's translation is, "In whom the god of this age 



46 The Renewed Earth. 

has blinded the minds of the unbelieving." The 
Revised Version uses the word ' "world" in the body, 
but gives us "age" in the margin. The Inter- 
linear Literal Translation (Hinds & Noble): "In 
whom the god of this age blinded the thoughts of 
the unbelieving." The only proper meaning of the 
word "world" in this connection is either (1) a 
"world of time," in contradistinction to the globe, 
or (2) "the world, during an age or dispensation" — 
the world as it now is. Either of these definitions 
will give us the meaning of the verse, which is 
plainly this: The world as it at present is, and as 
it shall continue throughout this age or dispensa- 
tion, known as "the times of the Gentiles," is un- 
der the dominance of Satan, so much so that he is 
actually called its "god." Now we know there can 
be no Millennium while Satan reigns; but he reigns 
as the god of the world in this entire dispensation; 
hence there can be no Millennium till its terminus 
has been reached. The word "god" is a very 
strong one; in fact, much stronger than "lord." 
"Lord," Greek kurios, is sometimes rendered 
"Sir," and is frequently applied to men, but "god," 
Greek theos, is a term of much more significance. 
Now, this strong term is applied to Beelzebub. He 
is actually called by inspiration the "god" not sim- 
ply of a nation or two of the earth for a few years 
or centuries, but of the whole world in its present 
time-measurement, i. e., throughout the dispensa- 
tion, extending from the day of Adam till the time 
in which Christ shall descend in glory. If Satan 
is the "god" of the world, he will determine its 



The Present Evil Age. 47 

spirit, will shape its laws and give tone and temper 
to its entire life. This being true, the salvation of 
the world in our age or dispensation, while under 
Satanic domination, is utterly impossible. 

In St. John's Gospel (12:31; 14:30) Jesus twice 
calls Satan "the prince of this world." The 
"world" in these passages is not "age," (aionos), 
but kosmos, meaning the world proper, in its popu- 
lation, spirit and general life. Now, putting these 
Scriptures together, we find Satan reigning as 
"prince," or "god," of the kosmos, world, through- 
out the ionas — age. 

We know that the Scriptures clearly set forth that 
there is a three-fold enemy to man's salvation, viz., 
"the world, the flesh and the devil." The "world" 
does not mean the "earth," for there is nothing 
sinful in the soil we cultivate — the globe we live on 
— but "the world" represents the essential spirit of 
worldliness and godlessness that dominates human- 
ity. Now, this is against the spiritual life. The 
term "flesh" does not mean our body, for there is 
nothing sinful in this tenement of clay. ''Every 
sin that a man doeth is without the body," says 
Paul. (1 Cor. 6:18.) But the "flesh" means "the 
carnal mind." (Rom. 6:6; 8:5-8.) Now this "flesh" 
is enmity against God. The man under its control 
lives in wickedness and defies the authority of God. 
The third person in this wicked trinity is the devil. 
We cannot convert the devil, nor can we save the 
world, or the flesh. They are essentially evil, and 
must be overthrown by the power of God. Ac- 
cordingly, we read that the flesh is to be crucified, 



48 The Renewed Earth. 

Satan bound and shut up in the pit, and the world 
purged by fire. (Rom. 6:6; Gal. 2:20; 1 Jno. 2:15; 
Rev. 20:1-3; 2 Pet. 3:5-12. 

The devil's own nature is evil; the carnal nature 
in man is his offspring, and the world is in alliance 
with him against Christ. We would as well talk of 
the carnal mind, which is "enmity against God," 
being made holy, whereas, the Scripture condemns 
it to destruction, as to prate about a world re- 
deemed and filled with divine knowledge and glory 
in the present age, or dispensation, for the Scrip- 
ture absolutely informs us that the devil is the 
world's prince and that his lordship shall continue 
through the entire age. But let us study the word 
"god," as used in this connection. 

As to God, our Maker, we find, 

First — That He is the creator of all things. 

Second — That He is the rightful ruler of all. 

Third — That the world is upheld by Him. 

Fourth — That He is the rightful and sole object 
of worship. 

These are essential characteristics of His God- 
head. Of course other things might be named, but 
these are salient features. Now, let us see how 
much of this outline can be found in the devil's re- 
lation to our age, or dispensation, for we remember 
that he is called "the god of the world" through- 
out this age. 

First — Is he a creator? We know that he is not 
the creator of the material world, nor of the sun, 
the moon and the stars, nor of our bodies or our 
souls, nor of our homes, our clothing or our food. 



The Present Evil Age. 49 

But when we consider the 4 'world," as a spirit of 
evil, of alienation from God, that dominates hu- 
manity and breeds all the evils that curse us, we 
may well recognize Satan as its creator. This 
' "world" is characterized by hatred, by lust, by unbe- 
lief, by disobedience, by evils that grow out of 
these dispositions, these essential characteristics 
of its nature. Of these evils we might name wars, 
rapine, thefts, drunkenness, gambling, dens of 
infamy, burglaries and murders. It seems that the 
spirit of war is on the world. Nations are bur- 
dened with taxation growing out of great armies, 
immense navies, enormous battleships, huge guns 
and other equipments for destruction. The liquor 
traffic also fetters civilization. Like a giant octo- 
pus, it stretches its arms of death through all na- 
tions, and its relentless maw consumes thousands 
upon multiplied thousands of strong men, shrink- 
ing women and tender children. It is of the world. 
Covetousness is the spirit of the world, and mani- 
fests itself in giant trusts that pile up vast, un- 
counted, and almost uncountable, fortunes for the 
few, while the many are left to struggle in want, 
frequently lacking, not only the comforts, but even 
the necessities of life, and out of these conditions 
grow strikes, and the wars that are waged between 
the lordly capitalist and the toiling laborer. This 
is all of the * 'world," and especially of the world of 
which Satan is prince. Now, these evil things are 
originated by "the god of this world, "as surely as 
the earth and the heavens are the creation of the 



50 The Renewed Earth. 

Almighty. So we may look upon Satan as the 
creator of the world of evil. 

We know that Satan should not rule the world, 
but, nevertheless, he does. It is under his control. 
We do not say the earth and the laws of nature are 
at his beck and call, but we do say, as before, that 
"the spirit of the world," which is in alliance with 
Satan and human carnality, a member of that wick- 
ed trinity called "the world, the flesh and the 
devil," is subject to Beelzebub. The world, in this 
sense, is absolutely ruled and controlled by the 
devil, dominated and directed by him. It draws its 
very life from him. Its godlessness, its hatred of 
divine things, its opposition to holiness, are all of 
Satanic origin, the inbreathings of hell, the out- 
workings of demons, so that this whole mass of 
organized and concentrated wickedness which 
forms the spirit of the world, in antagonism to the 
Spirit of Christ, is Satan-originated, and upheld by 
Satanic power. The spirit of the times is the spirit 
of evil, so that a man has to break with it if he 
would ally himself with God. The word "world" 
is used in this sense when the apostle declares, ■ 'If 
any man love the world, the love of the Father is 
not in him." We certainly must love "the world" 
of humanity, those for whom God, thro the inten- 
sity of love, "gave his only-begotten Son." (Jno. 
3:16.) The world of men must be loved, but the 
"world" as representing the spirit of the age is to 
be spurned. It is evil and will so continue till 
Jesus comes. 

No man can run with the world and serve God; 



The Present Evil Age. 51 

accordingly the Bible calls upon us to separate our- 
selves from the world, and "come out from among 
them" if we would be the sons and daughters of the 
Almighty. (2 Cor. 6:14-17.) Tnfact, John declares 
that "the whole world lieth in wickedness," or, as 
it is sometimes rendered, "in the wicked one." 
(1 John 5:19.) So the devil supplies the "smews 
of war" for the world. He gives it its life. He is 
its ruler. Accordingly, a man of the world may 
make a thousand good resolutions and yet fall. 
How often have we seen the drunkard renounce his 
cup and pledge total abstinence, and yet be drunk 
inside of a week. The tobacco user utterly re- 
nounces the filthy and poisonous weed to only chew 
and smoke the more in twenty-four hours. Men 
who are of the world live in darkness, and "love 
darkness because their deeds are evil." (Jno. 
3:18,19.) 

The sinner is absolutely controlled by the devil, 
so that he doubtless does just what his master 
would have him do; therefore we read in the Scrip- 
tures that "he that committeth sin is the servant 
of sin." (Jno. 8:34; Rom. 6:16,17; 2 Pet. 2:19.) 
Good resolutions will not avail. The rulership of 
Satan must be renounced and the lordship of Christ 
become the rule of life, and, until the world is ut- 
terly forsaken, there can be no freedom from sin. 
for the devil holds under his authority and power 
the children of this world. The purpose of gospel 
preaching is, to "turn men from the power, au- 
thority and dominion of Satan unto God." (Acta 
26:18.) 



52 The Renewed Earth. 

Third— Upholder, life-giver. When we consider 
Satan's lordship of the world, his manner of up- 
holding and fostering evil, and his success in the 
undertaking, we have a clew to much of the failure 
of Christian service. We have seen ministers, 
churches, communities and sometimes even Com- 
monwealths united in a war of extermination 
against the liquor traffic. But how soon have we 
found saloons, blind tigers and an immense jug 
trade nullifying the law. Thus often the hellish 
traffic comes out victor over law, church and peo- 
ple alike. Why is this? Because the whole busi- 
ness is backed by Satanic agencies and under- 
girded with demon-power. It draws its life from 
the infernal regions, and is upheld by more than 
human strength, even by him who is "The god of 
this world." We curb evil in one place, only to see 
it break out at another; restrain it here, and, lo, we 
find it master yonder. 

This line of thought gives us somewhat of an 
insight into Paul's remarkable statement in 
Ephesians, "We wrestle not against flesh and 
blood, but against powers, against rulers of the 
darkness of this world, against wicked spirits in 
the heavenlies," and for this fearful conflict the 
apostle bids us put on the whole armor of God, and 
to "be strong in the Lord, and in the power of 
his might," (Eph. 6:11, 12.) No mere human 
power, wisdom, manipulation or organization can 
stand against the devil-empowered forces of the 
world. My brethren, the battle is severe, the 
forces of evil are entrenched, the "god" of the age 



The Present Evil Age. 53 

is on the throne, and the legions of hell are in the 
saddle. Their weapons of warfare are mighty, 
their powers of superhuman skill are, to the 
strength of men, invincible, but, thank God, the 
Captain of our salvation is here for the deliver- 
ance of His faithful few. (Matt. 28:20.) 

The Master asks, "How can one enter into a 
strong man's house and spoil his goods, except he 
first bind the strong man and then he will spoil his 
house?" (Matt. 12:29.) This world as it is at 
present is the devil's house, he being its "prince." 
(John 14:30.) Can his house be spoiled while he 
keeps it? Surely not. When will it be? When 
he is bound; and when is that? Find your answer 
in Revelation 20:1-6. 

Similar to the passage we have been considering 
is another Pauline declaration: 

Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us 
from this present evil world, according* to the will of God 
and our Father. (Gal. 1:4.) 

As in the former passage the word rendered 
''world" is aionos, age. The apostle speaks of the 
grace of Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for our 
sins that He might deliver us out of the "present 
evil age" — Rotherham. From this we learn that 
the age, not simply this year, last year or next, but 
the entire dispensation down to its change at the 
time of our Lord's return is evil. Now it is clear 
to any man, who gives it thoughtful attention, 
that the Millennium cannot occur in an age thai 
"evil" We know that the time when Christ shall 



54 The Renewed Earth. 

have ''dominion from sea to sea," when "the earth 
shall be filled with His glory," when "the saints 
inherit the earth" and the martyrs and holy ones 
* 'reign with Him, " cannot be an evil age. Hence the 
evil or wicked dispensation is one apart from the 
Millennial age. But this present age is evil. Hence, 
this is not the age in which the world shall witness 
the Millennium, the time of Christ's reign. Now 
the only way to be saved at present is to be de- 
livered or separated from the spirit of the age. 
The call is yet sounding, "Come out from among 
them and be ye separate." The world is wicked; it 
is under the devil's thumb, and will be until the 
new dispensation is inaugurated. 

Jesus said: "Fear not little flock, for it is your 
Father's good pleasure to give you the Kingdom." 
(Luke 12:32.) Many limit the "little flock" to the 
early disciples, those to whom the words were ad- 
dressed, but suppose it will constitute the Kingdom 
by development. But this seems to come short of 
the meaning. Does it not imply that the flock was 
small then, and would so continue till the time was 
ripe for them to enter upon their possession, to 
take the Kingdom? The King and His retinue 
always constitute numerically but a small part of 
the kingdom. They are but few in proportion to 
those over whom the King and His subordinates 
exercise authority. The saints — the Christians — 
are those who are to reign with Christ over the 
earth. (Rev. 5:10; 20:4.) They are to take the 
Kingdom at the return of Christ. (Matt, 19:28; 
Dan. 7:13, 14, 18.) Those who take the kingdom 



The Present Evil Age. 55 

were, are and shall be to the time of its inaugu- 
ration, a "little flock." The "world" predominates, 
while the saints are few, and will be trampled under 
foot till the coming of the King. 

But our argument receives confirmation from the 
Master in His own advent teachings. Let the 
reader study carefully the 24th and 25th chapters 
of Matthew, the 13th of Mark, the 17th and 21st of 
Luke. By no manner of means can a place be 
found in these descriptions of the period from the 
time the Master spoke till His return for a thou- 
sand years of spiritual triumph on earth. Will the 
reader be so kind as to stop at this point and care- 
fully examine these chapters. Who can find a place 
in them for Millennial glory prior to the coming of 
Christ in the clouds? I will heartily thank him to 
point out the same. 

A brief resume of Matthew 24 gives us the fol- 
lowing: There are to be false Christs coming in 
His name, and deceiving many. With these are to 
be mingled wars and rumors of wars, involving 
many nations and shaking many kingdoms. But 
this is not all. There will be famines, pestilences 
and earthquakes, and these are but the beginning 
of sorrows, or, as Rotherham renders it, ''birth- 
pangs." Is this all? No. His disciples are to be 
"hated" of all the nations, and to be delivered over 
to tribulation. Because of this many stumble and 
hate one another. False prophets also continue to 
arise, by whom many are deceived. 

The 12th verse, as translated by the King James, 
says that "wickedness shall abound." This me; 



56 The Renewed Earth. 

to be more than full, as a stream that overflows its 
banks. But we fail to get the full force of this 
word in our common version, so let us notice other 
renderings. Rotherham, "Because of lawlessness 
being brought to the full, the love of the many 
will grow cold." This growing "cold" cannot refer 
to worldlings, because they have no love for God, 
hence no experience to lose or "cool off." To grow 
cold necessarily indicates backsliding, and this 
among the few who bear the name of Christ. This 
passage refers to the closing days, evidently, of 
this dispensation, and so the last part of the Chris- 
tian Era, so-called, is characterized as a time of in- 
tense and overwhelming lawlessness, resulting in 
extensive apostasy among the very people of God. 
The Revised Version reads, "because iniquity will 
be multiplied, the love of the many shall wax cold." 
We have the same in Hinds' Interlinear. The 
Twentieth Century New Testament gives about the 
same. As to whether the world will grow worse 
before the coming of Christ has long been dis- 
cussed among students of this question. I have a 
chapter on it in my "Blessed Hope." The text 
under consideration seems to indicate an increase 
of wickedness. It points to an end period, and 
clearly describes it as one of multiplying lawless- 
ness. If one denies this being the time of the end, 
then he will have to locate it. It certainly is be- 
fore the second advent of our Lord. We are forced 
to the conclusion that this portrays either the 
closing days of our dispensation, or the entire pe- 
riod. In any case it annihilates Post-Millennialism, 



The Present Evil Age. 57 

the Master actually declaring that lawlessness 
shall increase or multiply. We know that multi- 
plication is a rapid form of addition. It indicates 
not simply increase, but increase at a speedy rate. 
Now, there must be a period of world-wide right- 
eousness first, and this to give way to a great 
apostasy eventuating in a multiplication of law- 
lessness, else the entire dispensation is to be char- 
acterized by godlessness and growing wicked- 
ness, or the age or era is to at least remain unsaved 
and wind up at its worst. If there is to be a Mil- 
lennium brought about by present agencies, it 
seems that there would be some reference to it by 
the Master in this word-picture of the dispensa- 
tion. He tells of His coming and of the events that 
precede it, embracing the entire time from the day 
in which He spoke till the great event. He points 
to wars, famines, pestilences, and then actually de- 
clares that there shall be increasing lawlessness, 
multiplying wickedness. Not only is this wicked- 
ness of the heart, but the word lawlessness would 
imply that it is outbreaking, open, manifest trans- 
gression. Any student of current events will tell 
you that we are now in an age of criminality; we 
have to contend with murders, divorces, gambling 
dens and all manner of civil, religious and social 
anarchy. More murderers go free than are hung 
— a brother at my side suggests "ten to one." In 
some States, even in our home land, the divorces 
amount to about 20 per cent, of the marriages. 
Children defy parental authority, while 111 any 
parents foolishly encourage them in resisting the 



58 The Renewed Earth. 

control of their teachers, the whole resulting in 
disregard for law, both civil and ecclesiasticaL 

Many preachers glory in their ' 'optimism. " They 
have much to say about the improvement of the 
world, and generally for illustration point to recent 
inventions. Such, grow eloquent over the loco- 
motive, the steamship, the phonograph, the auto- 
mobile, the telephone, wireless telegraphy, etc., 
etc. Very well; what has all this to do with the 
wickedness of the human heart? Can you save 
men by wireless telegraphy, or sanctify them by 
telephones and automobiles? Personally, I appre- 
ciate every invention, and rejoice in our material 
progress, but he has read the Scriptures to small 
purpose who preaches the conversion of the world, 
the moral and spiritual uplift of the race, from the 
text of our material prosperity. Indeed, the great- 
est revivals generally occur in times of poverty, of 
drouth, and panic, bordering on famine. On the 
other hand, when nations rise to the heights of their 
greatest prosperity they usually sink to their low- 
est depths morally. The decay of Egypt, Babylon, 
Nineveh, Rome began at the center, when boasting 
their greatest wealth, their largest attainments and 
fullest glory. The heart of man is easily lifted up, 
and God is most readily forgotten, when coffers are 
bursting and barns are filled with plenty. 

In fact, in the discourse of the Master, which we 
are considering, we have the remarkable statement 
that as it was in the days of Noah, and as it was in 
the days of Lot, so it shall be at His coming. He 
speaks of them eating and drinking, marrying and 



The Present Evil Age. 59 

giving in marriage, buying and selling, planting 
and building in those days. (Luke 17:26-30.) 

The careful student will notice that there is not 
named in this catalogue. a single crime or sin, noth- 
ing is mentioned that is evil in itself. What is there 
wrong in eating or drinking.? What sin is there in 
marrying or giving in marriage? Is it wicked to 
buy or sell, to plant or build? I trow not. Then 
what is meant, wherein is the evil? Simply this, 
in the rush of worldliness, in the attention to busi- 
ness, God is forgotten. We are constantly warned 
in the Bible against the worldly mind, against care, 
worry and anxiety; against the heart-entangling 
question, What shall we eat, wherewithal shall we 
be clothed? The Master tells us that the Gentiles, 
that is, those who know not God, seek after these 
things. Their thought is not on Him, but on the 
question of "a living." The Creator is forgotten 
by man when he is grasping after the creature; the 
very thought of judgment and eternity is swept 
from his heart by ceaseless questionings as to the 
comforts of time. When the creature crowds out 
the Creator, then the character of the Christian 
becomes bankrupt, God will hold the second place 
in no heart. He who would even be acceptable to 
his neighbor must give him a first place, one of 
honor and due respect, in his thoughts, his affec- 
tions and his plans. An age of material prosper- 
ity, therefore, excludes the thought of religion, and 
deadens the heart to God and sacred things. The 
things in which our optimistic brethren so glory 
may be the cause of our shame and oven mow 



6o The Renewed Earth. 

when brought into the light of God and the judg- 
ment. 

Was the earth, in the days of Lot, and in the 
days of Noah, filled with Millennial glory? Was 
Lot surrounded with godly neighbors? Did re- 
joicing multitudes gather to hear the messages of 
Noah, when the old hero-saint was preaching 
righteousness? Nay, verily. They were engaged 
in other things, in planting and building, in en- 
larging their fields and erecting greater barns. 
But the God whom they had forgotten was even 
then sitting upon the circle of the heavens, weigh- 
ing them in the balances and pronouncing against 
them the judgments of His righteous wrath. So 
will it be at the coming of the Son of man. In 
fact, James tells us that the rich will lay up their 
riches in the last days. And such is the case in our 
own generation. Never was the dollar so nearly 
''almighty," never were fortunes so colossal or so 
numerous. 

JERUSALEM, TRODDEN DOWN. 

But the Master puts all speculation at rest in the 
following statement: 

,; And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be 
led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be 
trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles 
be fulfilled. 

"And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and 
in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with per- 
plexity; the sea and the waves roaring. 

"Men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after 
those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers 
of heaven shall be shaken. 



The Present Evil Age. 6t 

"And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud 
with power and great glory." (Luke 21:24-27.) 

Will the world be converted and filled with His 
glory before His return? If so we would likely 
find its forecast in the Word. But do we? Cer- 
tainly not. This passage points to the desolation 
of Jerusalem which occurred under the Roman 
armies headed by Titus in A. D. 70. That is his- 
tory. Please observe what follows; besides the de- 
struction of the city, the Jews were to be carried 
captive into all nations. This likewise is history. 
How long shall their desolations continue? Will 
they suffer for a while and then be released and 
witness the world under the beneficent reign of 
Christ for a thousand years ere His return? No, 
indeed. Instead of this, they shall be "trodden 
down," oppressed, insulted, tortured. This has 
been in process of fulfillment for eighteen cen- 
turies. But if the world is to be converted in 
our age, if the earth is to "be filled with the glory 
of God as the waters cover the sea," before the 
coming of Christ, this oppression of the Jews must 
cease. It is certainly incompatible with a state of 
world-wide Christianity for God's ancient people, 
or any other, to be rent and torn and ground under 
the heel of the oppressor. Could it be said that all 
"know the Lord from the least to the greatest," 
that Christ has "dominion from sea to sea," that 
earth is filled with His glory and is inherited by 
the meek, when, before the eyes of all men, the 
descendants of faithful Abraham, the ancient Israel 
of God, are suffering at the hands of the tyrant? 



62 The Renewed Earth. 

The very thought is preposterous. But Jesus does 
emphatically declare that this down-treading of 
the Jews shall continue to a set time; and what is 
the limit? "UNTIL THE TIMES OF THE GEN- 
TILES SHALL BE FULFILLED." He does not 
say it shall continue for ten centuries, or twenty, 
or that it shall extend till the breaking of Millen- 
nial glory over the earth through the triumphs of 
the gospel. On the other hand, He assures us 
there can be no Millennium, no period of all- 
embracing holiness, no termination of Israel's op- 
pression and suffering, until the dispensation in 
which we live is at an end, until the times of the 
Gentiles are completed. Why should men wrangle 
and dispute, why should they argue and theorize, 
why should they preach and write concerning a 
gospel-Millennium before the second advent of our 
Lord, when he has set the whole matter at rest by 
plainly informing us that wickedness shall continue 
and the oppression of His ancient people shall not 
cease throughout the dispensation in which we 
live? It would seem that the Master's word should 
be an end of controversy; that those who love Him 
and bear His name would accept His statement as 
final. But, strange as it may seem, Post-Millen- 
nialists have a theory of their own which utterly 
discards this emphatic statement of Christ. A 
noted preacher of this school recently said to the 
writer, concerning this passage, that perhaps the 
Master, for some reason, left the Millennium in 
this period veiled, that it would occur, but that He 
did not mention it in this prophecy. It is perfect- 



The Present Evil Age. 63 

ly plain that He did not point out a Millennium in 
this prediction, which covers the entire period of 
His absence, including His visible return in the 
clouds; to say that He veiled it is well-nigh to 
charging Him with falsehood. Our good brother, of 
course, did not intend such rashness, but the Mas- 
ter has given utterance to a prediction which will 
not allow of a loophole for our Post-Millennial 
brethren. Listen! ' 'Jerusalem shall be trodden 
down until" — until what? Until the close of the 
Gentile dispensation. Not until the larger part of it 
is past, or till all of it ends but the Millennium, 
but until its completion. The word ' 'until, " Greek 
achri, is intended to cover a complete period of 
time without an interregnum; for example, if a 
thing continues from morning "until" night, we 
understand that there has been no interruption, 
but that it has covered the entire period of the day. 
So this oppression of God's elect nation shall know 
no cessation throughout the entire age in which we 
live. The city of their forefathers is in the hands 
of aliens; the land wherein they prospered under 
David and Solomon, which God deeded by an ever- 
lasting covenant to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, is 
wrenched from their control. This was accom- 
plished by the armies of Rome, shortly after our 
Lord uttered the prophecy that it should be so. It 
has continued through these centuries, and on the 
authority of Him "who spake as never man spake" 
it shall continue till the age known as the "times 
of the Gentiles" comes to an end. Richard Abbey, 
Daniel Steele, C. C. Caryand Bishop Candler, with 



64 The Renewed Earth. 

others of their way of thinking, may preach as 
much as they wish and write as clearly as they 
know how concerning a Millennium of world-wide 
obedience to Christ in the times of the Gentiles, 
but Christ wipes them all off the field, and by one 
authoritative declaration from His own lips settles 
their futile reasonings once and forever. 

What follows this treading down of Jerusalem? 
How does it terminate? The Saviors answer is 
plain enough — it ends in the great tribulation. 
This is characterized by "signs in the sun, in the 
moon, and in the stars." Upon the earth we find 
"distress of nations, with perplexity," the very sea 
is involved, its waves roaring, the hearts of men 
sinking within them through fear, and the very 
"powers of the heavens are shaken. " Our Lord 
describes it as the greatest tribulation in all his- 
tory. (Matt. 24:21.) He declares that it comes 
"as a snare upon all the inhabitants of the earth." 
It is not limited to Jerusalem, but is world-wide. 
It involves all nations, and surpasses in anguish 
and terror all the events of history, not excepting 
earth's direst famines, its most fearful wars, and 
even the great deluge. Thus our dispensation is 
described by the Master as one filled with evil, both 
moral and material, terminating, as the antedilu- 
vian world in its deluge, so this in its indescribable 
tribulation. And what next? Listen! "Then 
shall they see the Son of man coming in the clouds 
of heaven with power and great glory. " 

Manifestly this is a personal coming. It is the 
coming, not of the Spirit, as at Pentecost, nor of 



The Present Evil Age. 65 

wrathful judgments through other people, as at 
the overthrow of Jerusalem by the armies of Titus, 
but the coming of Him whose name in New Testa- 
ment nomenclature is "The Son of Man.'' Such 
was apparently our Lord's favorite title, and He 
who bore it is to come "in the clouds, with power 
and great gJory," at the end of the Gentile age, 
which terminates in this awful tribulation. 

Furthermore, He comes visibly, and is to be seen 
sitting on the right hand of power. (Matt. 26:64.) 
If we set aside the creeds and theories of men, our 
lesson is simple, for from the Bible we easily learn 
that this is an age of wickedness, terminating in 
disaster, and is followed by the visible appearing 
of Him who is "Lord of lords, King of kings.*' 
Are the nations ready to welcome Him at His ap- 
pearing? Do they love Him, and will they shout 
for joy at His parousiaF No, indeed. To John, on 
the lonely isle, a glimpse was given of this grand 
event. Hear him: 

"Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see 
him and all nations shall wail because of him.'' (Rev. 1:7.) 

His coming is with "clouds," evidently of attend- 
ing angels and glorified saints. (Heb. 12:1.) His 
glory is indescribable, as on the Mount of Trans- 
figuration, and as He appeared to the saintly John, 
in the desolate island, His radiance is supernal. 
Instead of shouting for joy, as would sanctified 
hosts, the kindreds of earth all "wail because of 
Him" — and thus again are the props knocked from 
the crumbling; walls of man-invented Post-Millen- 



66 The Renewed Earth. 

nialism. We observe, further, that this advent 
'■ immediately" follows the great tribulation. Hear 
the Master: 

"IMMEDIATELY after the tribulation of those days 
shall .... they SEE the Son of man COMING." (Matt. 
24:29-31.) 

In their blindness men have attempted to find the 
fulfillment of this matchless scene in the overthrow 
of the doomed city of the Jews by the heathen 
armies of Rome. But such treatment of God's 
Word is worthy only of rebuke. How the Son of 
man can be seen coming in the clouds and all the 
nations wail because of Him, when there is simply 
a war between two nations, resulting in the de- 
struction of the principal city of one of them, is in- 
comprehensible! Nothing but a mere human the- 
ory would ever demand such puerile, such blind and 
inexcusable, treatment of the declarations of Him 
who is "the Truth." 

We find this word "until" cropping out in other 
scriptures which treat of our Lord's return, and in 
every case it yields the same result as in Luke 
21:24. 



As to the Kingdom. 67 

CHAPTER IV. 
As to the Kingdom* 



Is the Kingdom, so often mentioned in the Scrip- 
tures, under different titles, such as the kingdom 
of God, "the kingdom of heaven," etc., etc., a lit- 
eral reign of Jesus Christ the Son of man upon the 
earth? or is it simply a spiritual triumph in the 
hearts of men? Has the kingdom been set up at 
any time in the past, or is it a prospect for the 
future? These are questions of interest to every 
Bible student. 

BOTH SPIRITUAL AND LITERAL. 

There is no doubt in the writer's mind that the 
term ''kingdom" in its broad, scriptural fullness 
involves all that has been, is now, and ever shall 
be of the reign of Christ. Consequently there is 
much of reality in the doctrine of a spiritual king- 
dom already in existence. Christ certainly reigns 
now in many hearts. Multitudes gladly do His 
bidding. There are many who with all their pos- 
sessions are subject to the will of God. They 
gladly yield obedience to his every command, and 
are entirely subservient to His every known desire. 
Thus they are charter members of His coming 
kingdom and are even now being prepared to reign 
with Him over the nations. (Rev. 2:26,27.) Peter 



68 The Renewed Earth. 

had reference to this phase of the kingdom when 
he declared, "Ye are a chosen generation, a royal 
priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people. " 
(1 Pet. 2:9.) Our Lord reigns over this peculiar 
people, this holy nation, this royal priesthood. 
Paul spoke of this in the saying, "The Father 
. . . . hath translated us into the kingdom of 
His dear Son." (Col. 1:12,13.) All who are thus 
"translated into the kingdom" recognize the ruler- 
ship of God. His will is their law; His authority 
supersedes all other. 

This idea of a spiritual kingdom, as an inner re- 
alization and an outer prospect, is confirmed by the 
royal nature of God's people. Christ, His only be- 
gotten Son, is King over all, and those who are 
truly regenerated and thoroughly sanctified, who 
walk in daily fellowship and constant communion 
with Him, partake of His royal character. They 
are heirs with Him of all things. He dwells with- 
in them, and is not ashamed to call them "breth- 
ren." That this "holy nation" in some sense 
constitutes a spiritual kingdom, therefore, goes 
without question. Every one really born of God 
recognizes in himself, especially in seasons of holy 
rapture, that he is heir to the kingdom eternal, that 
in him is the blood royal. But this is rather an in- 
heritance, an heirship, than a possession. They 
are in preparation for royal glory and kingly man- 
ifestation. 

Rev. G. D. Watson says, concerning the king- 
dom, as it is and as it shall be: "There is a distinc- 
tion between the 'church' and the 'kingdom' plainly 



As to the Kingdom. 69 

revealed in Scripture, but discerned by very few. 
. . . The 'kingdom' includes vastly more than the 
'church.' We do not pray 'Thy church come/ for 
the church is here, but 'Thy kingdom come, 'which 
is not here yet, except in an incipient sense, and, 
like an unborn monarch, the kingdom is in the 
world in its pre-natal form, but is to come in open 
glory with the return of Jesus. . . . The true spir- 
itual church is only a small part of the kingdom, 
and constitutes the government officials of the com- 
ing kingdom. There is a distinction between the 
stages of the spiritual kingdom in the heart and 
the glorious visible kingdom to be manifested in 
all the earth. Just as Jesus was invisible four 
thousand years as the promised Savior, and then 
appeared in visible humanity, so the kingdom, like 
the King, has its first stage in a hidden spiritual 
power, and at the appointed time will come forth 
in visible glory and authority. You will find the 
inner kingdom in Rom. 14:17, and the outer king- 
dom in Rom. 8:19-21, Psalms 149:5-9, and Rev. 
20:4." 

While we readily grant the reign of Christ in the 
heart of the truly sanctified, yet we would ask. 
Is this spiritual phase of the kingdom all? Is 
the kingdom already established in its full scrip- 
tural sense? I am sure it is not. If it is here in 
its fullness, what about the King? Can there bo a 
perfect kingdom in the absence of Him whose rig 
the throne is? While He is in a far land, who is 
heir of all things? Beyond doubt, Christ is earth's 
Rightful Raler, but as "the Son of man" Ho is ab- 



jo The Renewed Earth. 

sent from this world, on which He was born, lived 
and suffered. If the kingdom is here in its com- 
pleteness, we should be able to see the King in His 
glory. Now, since a king is essential to a king- 
dom, we infer that in the absence of the King, we 
have not the fullness of the kingdom. Is not this 
right? Is it not a correct inference? Please ob- 
serve the following points: 

1. There is a kingdom to "come." (Matt. 6:10.) 
For this we daily pray. If it were already here, 
the prayer would be inappropriate, unmeaning. 
Why should God's saints the world over on bended 
knee supplicate the throne in the heavens for the 
coming of a kingdom which has already been on 
the earth for more than eighteen centuries? Some 
tell us that the kingdom was set up at Pentecost. 
If so, did the daily petition cease at that time? 
We have never been instructed, to discontinue pray- 
ing "Thy kingdom come." It would seem that had 
it come at the time of the great Jerusalem revival, 
known as Pentecost, we would have been notified 
in subsequent Scriptures to discontinue the use of 
our daily petition for the inauguration of the king- 
dom. But since we have had no such warning, we 
may reasonably suppose the prayer is yet binding 
on all who call upon His name. 

2. Again observe the following scripture: He 
"spake a parable, . . . because they thought the 
kingdom of God should immediately appear. " (Luke 
19:11-27.) The parable is that of the nobleman 
going into a far country to receive for himself a 
kingdom and to return. The following points are 



As to the Kingdom. 71 

on the surface of this parable, to which the reader 
will please give a careful reading, (a) It was 
spoken to correct a false impression about the 
immediate setting-up of the kingdom. They were 
expecting it to "appear" at an early day, but this 
was an error, and the parable was intended to cor- 
rect it. But the Pentecost did occur shortly after 
this, hence, if the kingdom was set up then, the 
parable is misleading. But this parable is the true 
word of Christ, and must be recognized as author- 
itative. From this we inevitably conclude that the 
setting-up of the kingdom was much more remote 
than the people were expecting it to be. But 
Pentecost was not far distant, hence it was not the 
inauguration of the kingdom, (b) The kingdom 
was to be received by the nobleman in a "far coun- 
try." Christ was certainly that "nobleman." The 
kingdom would not be under His dominion until 
His return. The same nobleman who "went to the 
far country" for the kingdom must "return" to ex- 
ercise its authority — the kingly prerogative. But 
Jesus did not return at Pentecost and exercise His 
royal rights as the incumbent of the throne over 
His kingdom, therefore it was not set up at that 
time, (c) We observe, further, that when this 
King returned he was both to reward his servants 
and punish his enemies, even slaying them; but 
nothing like this occurred at Pentecost, hence by 
no fair method of interpretation can this be looked 
upon as the time of the setting-up of the kingdom. 



72 The Renewed Earth. 

That the kingdom was 

NOT SET UP AT PENTECOST 

Is further evident from the following: 

1. The kingdom was to be set up at the coming 
of Christ in visible majesty and power. Daniel 
declares that he saw "one like the Son of man 
coming in the clouds of heaven," and adds, "there 
was given Him dominion, and glory and a king- 
dom." Jesus did not come in the clouds at Pente- 
cost, hence the kingdom mentioned by Daniel was 
not given Him at that time. Furthermore, this 
kingdom was to embrace all * 'peoples, nations and 
languages, " and they should ' 'serve Him. " But all 
peoples, nations and languages did not serve Him 
at Pentecost, nor have they done so since. From 
this it is manifest that the kingdom, in the sense 
spoken of by Daniel, is not yet under the authority 
of Jesus Christ as Son of man. 

2. At the time of Daniel's vision, when he saw 
the Son of man coming in the clouds and taking 
possession of the kingdom, he discovered another 
fact, viz. : that "The saints of the Most High shall 
take the kingdom and possess it forever, even for- 
ever and ever." Of course the saints are subjects 
of Christ and members of the spiritual kingdom 
concerning which we have spoken. But in what 
sense can it be said that they have taken "the king- 
dom" spoken of by the prophet? Instead of being 
on thrones and exercising dominion, they have 
been in the minority, a "poor, despised company," 
and frequently dragged up before the thrones of 
the unjust. They have been a meek, rejected and 



As to the Kingdom. 73 

helpless people. Instead of sitting on thrones and 
judging the world, (1 Cor. 6:2), they have rather, 
like their Master in the day of His humiliation, 
been degraded and mistreated at the judgment 
seats of earth's Pilates, Caiaphases and Caesars. It 
could hardly be said with any degree of truthful- 
ness that they have yet "taken the kingdom." 
That the kingdom spoken of by the prophet is out- 
ward, visible and world-wide is shown by the fact 
that "the saints" take possession of it. But if they 
are "saints ," they already have the spiritual reign 
of Christ in their hearts, else they would not be 
saints, but, it is as saints, and after they have become 
saints, and are called such by the Most High, that 
they enter upon and take possession of the king- 
dom. (Dan. 7:18-27.) 

3. Daniel, in his interpretation of the vision of 
Nebuchadnezzar, sets this matter before us in a 
still clearer light. He gives us a picture of four 
great world empires, the Babylonian, the Medo- 
Persian, the Grecian and the Roman. This last 
divides into two branches like the legs of a man, 
and the whole terminates in ten kings or king- 
doms as the toes of the image. Now, the prophet 
tells us, "In the days of these kings, shall the 
God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall 
never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be 
left to other people, but it shall break in pieces 
and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand 
forever." (Daniel 2:44.) That this kingdom was 
not set up at Pentecost is made clear from this 
vision on several counts, (a) The kingdom was 



74 The Renewed Earth. 

not to be set up till the toe-stage of the image, but 
Pentecost occurred in the time of Rome's power 
and glory — the thigh stage. There was then but 
one king or kingdom, as per the image; it was an 
all-embracing empire — the fourth great world- 
power. But the kingdom of God is to be set up, 
not in the times of the fourth king, but of "these 
(ten) kings." The plural is used, indicating that 
the toe-stage has been reached, and thus the entire 
"time of the Gentiles," as set forth in the great 
image, shall have been fulfilled before the God of 
heaven sets up His kingdom. At the time of the 
Pentecost there were no "kings," but a great 
king — the Roman. In the days of the setting-up of 
God's eternal kingdom, there are to be ' 'kings" — ten 
of them, (b) This divine kingdom will not "be left 
toother people." It shall be under the authority, 
the domination and control of God's saints alone, 
but the kingdoms of the world, and even the eccle- 
siasticisms which have sprung up in the church of 
the centuries, have been rather more frequently un- 
der the control of worldly men than of saints. Any 
one can easily see that the saints have not in any 
sense ruled the world, nay, nor even the churches. 
But this is to be a kingdom, a dominion or rule, and 
it must necessarily be world-wide, for it is to take 
the place of the other world empires. Yea more; 
it is to exceed them — for it fills "the ivhole earth." 
(Dan. 2:35.) (c) It will not only outstrip them, 
but it will smash them to pieces, grind them to 
powder, consume and annihilate them. It is to be 
destructive, but nothing since Pentecost has ful- 



As to the Kingdom. 75 

filled this phase of it. In fact, there is nothing in 
the gospel of Christ and the work of the true and 
spiritual church to demolish and overthrow human 
governments. Kings flourish under the beneficent 
influences of the spiritual kingdom — if it may be 
called a kingdom — but the dominion is to be taken 
from human rulers, their authority broken and 
their kingdoms overthrown by the endless king- 
dom which the God of heaven is to set up. 
The Son of man 

DID NOT COME AT PENTECOST. 

But He is to come at the time of the setting up 
of His kingdom. This fact is established by Daniel 
(7:13,14), and by the Master Himself. He shows 
that the kingdom with its authority and power is 
to be in charge of the Nobleman when He returns. 
(Luke 19:12-27.) As He did not return at Pente- 
cost, and has not yet returned, it is manifest that 
the kingdom which is His in that day is not yet 
established. Elsewhere the Master gives us the 
same thought. He pictures the Gentile times as 
wicked, terminating in the great tribulation, and 
adds, "Then shall they see the Son of man coming 
in the clouds with power and great glory." Is this 
the end of all things? Nay, verily, "When ye see 
these things come to pass, know ye that the king- 
dom of God is nigh at hand." (Luke 21:27-31.) In 
order to sustain the theory which teaches the set- 
ting up of the kingdom at Pentecost, we must have 
the following facts, preceding that day: 
Gentile times must have run their course. iLu. 



y6 The Renewed Earth. 

21:24) (b) The Great Tribulation must have come 
and gone, (c) The visible coming of the Son of 
man in the clouds with power and glory must have 
occurred (d) All human governments must have 
surrendered to the scepter of Christ. Did all these 
things take place then? No sane man would say 
they did. On the other hand, none of them hap- 
pened prior to Pentecost. The Gentile times is yet 
unfulfilled. Even those who contend that the de- 
struction of Jerusalem was the great tribulation 
must remember that Pentecost was thirty-seven 
years before Jerusalem was destroyed. But ac- 
cording to the Master the great tribulation must 
precede His visible appearing and the setting up of 
the kingdom. (Dan 12:1-3; Matt. 24:29,30.) Then 
again, Christ was not, as a matter of fact, seen 
coming in the clouds at Pentecost. There is no 
hint of it on record in either sacred or profane his- 
tory, Besides this, many of the prophecies con- 
cerning His return had not been written before 
Pentecost, as indeed none of the New Testament 
writings had been penned at that date. But as the 
teachers of the theory that the kingdom was set up 
at Pentecost are numerous, we will give them some 
further points for consideration. 

4. The Kingdom in the sense of which we have 
spoken and concerning which we are writing is, as 
we have shown, dependent on the presence of the 
King. It could not, therefore, have been inaugu- 
rated at Pentecost, unless Jesus actually returned 
at that time, But we all know He did not. This 
is a simple historic fact, but neither Scripture nor 



As to the Kingdom. 77 

history seems to get in the way of some dreamers. 
To say that that was His return is without any 
foundation whatever— it is the baldest assertion. 
Some tell us, however, that He came in the power 
of the Spirit, but we observe in reply the following 
points: (a) The Spirit was poured out at Pente- 
cost and this was the inauguration of His dispen- 
sation. But to say that this was the same as the 
! return of Jesus is to wipe out the distinction be- 
tween the second and third Persons of the God- 
head. No trinitarian, at least, can do this. Jesus 
is the second Person in the Trinity and the Holy 
Spirit, the third. Jesus went away that the Spirit 
might come. (Jno. 16:7,8.) Now, to contend that 
the pouring out of the Spirit in Jerusalem was the 
same as the return of Christ is to destroy the scrip- 
tural distinction between the second and third Per- 
sons of the Godhead, (b) The kingdom is that of 
"the Son of man." This necessarily involves His 
rule as human rather than divine. His manhood 
must be present in this kingdom. In Daniel's 
vision He is careful to tell us that the one he saw 
coming in the clouds was "like the Son of man" 
and to Him was the kingdom given, Jesus speaks 
of His own going and coming as that of the "No- 
bleman" — the noble-racm, if you please. He also 
tells us of His return as "Son of man" ere the set- 
ting up of the kingdom, (c) When He returns 
for the kingdom, His coming is to be vis- 
ible. "Then shall they see the Son of man" who 
is to be in "clouds of glory" and angel-attended. 
But none of these things occurred at Pentecost. 



78 The Renewed Earth. 

Hence we know that that was not the coming of the 
King and the setting up of the kingdom of which 
we write. 

5. Let the reader also observe that the bulk of 
our information concerning the coming of our Lord 
is obtained from the Epistles and the book of Rev- 
elation. But none of these were written till long 
after the Pentecost. Hence all the information 
they contain concerning the coming, the kingdom 
and reign of our Lord applies to something later 
than Pentecost. Paul, who wrote fourteen of the 
Epistles, was not converted till a considerable time 
after that event, and he had much to say concern- 
ing our Lord's coming, and related matters. But 
as the kingdom is subsequent toourLord^s return, 
and as His coming was prophetically portrayed 
subsequent to Pentecost, the conclusion is inevit- 
able that the kingdom was not set up on that day. 

6. But we would call the reader's attention to an- 
other fact, which is itself conclusive. The Scrip- 
tures say nothing of a Pentecostal kingdom, or a 
kingdom set up on that day. Men have much to 
say of it, but they are not inspired. The Word is 
severely silent at this point, and this is fatal to the 
theory we are combating. As to whether the 
Church was set up at Pentecost, we do not care to 
debate. There has been much disputation con- 
cerning it. We know it cannot be assigned an 
origin later than the events related in the second 
chapter of Acts. We will not, beyond this, enter 
this field of controversy, but leave for such as feel 
inclined to the discussion. Our contention is not 



As to the Kingdom. 79 

as to the origin of the church, but as to the inau- 
guration of the Messianic dominion; that the king- 
dom was not set up at Pentecost, so far as the 
record goes, we believe we have established. 

We would further call attention to the fact that 
if "the kingdom" and "the church" were the same 
the words would be interchangeable. When things 
are of equal value they can easily be exchanged. 
Suppose we test this proposition by substituting in 
some passages the one word for the other. How 
would "kingdom" do in Acts 14:27, "When they 
were come and had gathered the kingdom together 
they rehearsed all that God had done to them." 
Or 18:22, "When he had landed at Csesarea and 
gone up and saluted the kingdom he went down to 
Antioch." If there was a kingdom in each of these 
places, then the Lord must surely have many 
kingdoms on earth. Further, if in each place there 
was not the complete kingdom, then the definite 
article was out of place. He did not gather "the" 
kingdom at Caesarea and Antioch, but simply parts 
of it. But let us have other examples. These are 
given, of course, only to show the absurdity of the 
interchange of "the church" and "the kingdom." 
Paul writing to the church at Rome, bids the 
brethren give his greetings to Priscilla and 
Aquila, my helpers in Christ Jesus, and adds, 
"Greet the kingdom (?) that is in their house." 
(Rom. 16:3-5.) We should think it would be rather 
a small kingdom in the house of these worthy 
saints, but that they had a church among them is 
manifest. Once again we read (in Eph. 5:25 27) 



80 The Renewed Earth. 

that Christ gave Himself for the kingdom, that He 
might sanctify it, that He might present it to Him- 
self a glorious kingdom. 

Having substituted "kingdom" for "church" in 
these few passages, we will test the matter the 
other way by substituting "church" for "kingdom." 
Take the familiar clause in what is commonly 
called our Lord's prayer, and read it, substituting 
church for kingdom, "Thy church come, thy will 
be done on earth as it is in heaven." What could 
be more absurd? and yet if the kingdom and the 
church in their real spiritual significance are the 
equivalent, each of the other, there should be no 
absurdity whatever in this exchange of terms. 
But a few other passages may make the case 
clearer. Take Acts 1:6, the question of the disci- 
ples, just before our Lord ascended. They asked 
the Master certain "things" pertaining to "the 
kingdom of God," and queried, "Wilt thou at this 
time restore again the kingdom (the Church, shall 
we say), to Israel? If the church here is to take 
the place of the kingdom, then we must understand 
that Israel once had the church, had lost it, and 
the disciples were seeking to know the time when 
it shall be restored. Now we know that Israel had 
been a theocracy before the time of Saul, and that 
it was a kingdom till the overthrow by the armies 
of Babylon. The question of the disciples there- 
fore was not as to the establishment of the Church, 
but as to the restoration of "the Kingdom." 
Ezekiel had spoken as God's mouth-piece concern- 
ing the overthrow of the kingdom of Israel and its 



As to the Kingdom. 81 

restoration. He said, "Remove the diadem and 
take off the crown. I will overturn, overturn, 
overturn it; and it shall be no more until HE 
COME whose right it is, and I will give it Him/' 
(Ezek. 21:27.) By this we learn the kingdom is to 
be restored to Israel, but it is only when "He 
comes" whose right it is. His coming will there- 
fore be the day-dawn of hope to Israel; till then the 
diadem is lost, the crown overturned. 

This point is somewhat of a digression, but it is 
nevertheless thoroughly adapted to our argument. 
Let us put the word "Church" into Luke 21:31, 
"When you see these things come to pass, know 
ye that the church (?) of God is nigh at hand." 
The things spoken of are the tribulation period, 
the coming of Christ in the clouds and kindred 
events. It is in this connection that the King him- 
self informs us the kingdom — not the church — "is 
nigh at hand." One more passage will be sufficient 
for our present purpose. In the Apocalypse, at 
the sounding of the trumpet of the seventh angel, 
great voices are heard in heaven crying, "The 
churches (?) of this world are become the church (?) 
of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign 
forever and ever." (Rev. 11:15.) 

That there is in some sense a spiritual kingdom 
or reign of God in the heart we have conceded. 
But that it is not the kingdom in its literal, full 
and perfect sense we think we have shown by the 
most irrefutable and overwhelming proofs, drawn 
directly from God's own Word 

6 



82 The Renewed Earth. 



OBJECTIONS. 

Many objections are offered to the personal 
reign of Christ on earth. Our opponents tell us 
that His reign is in heaven. They assert boldly 
that He will never set up what they are pleased to 
term a ' 'temporal kingdom" in this world. Rev. 
Daniel Steele says, "The prophecies adduced as 
teaching the return of the Jews and the temporal 
reign of Christ at Jerusalem present a view of 
Christianity so grossly materialistic as to be abso- 
lutely irreconcilable with Christ's spiritual king- 
dom." (Antinomi. Rev., pp. 190, 191.) Elsewhere 
he asserts his belief, "that the present dispensa- 
tion is the most favorable for the development and 
growth of virtue which this world will ever see, 
and that the future dispensation which exists in 
the dreams of Chiliasts — the personal reign of 
Christ in bodily form on the earth, cowing the 
wicked into subjection by the awe of His majestic 
and glorious presence — will not afford the condi- 
tions requisite to a fair probation." (Ibid, p. 200.) 
Rev. Dan Steele is a man of acknowledged ability, 
a forceful thinker, a ripe scholar, a strong writer, 
a holy man. But he has unfortunately fallen into 
the meshes of Post-Millennialism, and this spirit- 
ualizing creed has led him to the bold assertion 
contained in this extract. He actually would have 
us believe that the plain, literal words of the 
prophets present a view of Christianity that is 
"grossly materialistic and absolutely irreconcila- 
ble with Christ's spiritual kingdom." Mark you, 



As to the Kingdom. 83 

he does not say that the teachings of Pre-Millen- 
nialists are "grossly materialistic," but that 
"the prophecies adduced . . . present a view of 
Christianity grossly materialistic." My! my! isn't 
this a remarkable treatment of the prophecies? It 
sounds more like a man in a hole seeking his way 
out than the words of sober interpretation. One 
would think our dear brother had been in the fel- 
lowship of the so-called "higher critics" with 
whom the plain Word of God has little weight. 
Sad! 

Note the following extracts from Bro. Cary's 
book, previously quoted, "Not only is our Lord 
silent about anything which savors of setting up a 
temporal kingdom on earth when He comes a sec- 
ond time, but the whole drift of His teaching is in 
an opposite direction. Quite all He says goes to 
prove that His is to be a spiritual reign in the 
world, which would neither interfere with, abolish, 
nor take the place of earthly kingdoms." So much 
for C. C. Gary. Now let us have a word from the 
great prophet of the Babylonian captivity: "In the 
days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up 
a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed ... it 
shall break in pieces and consume all these king- 
doms." (Dan. 2:44.) Now, here is a clash. The 
prophet declares that God shall set up a kingdom, 
and the context shows plainly that it is on the 
earth, for it occupies the same territory which was 
occupied by the four preceding kingdoms. The 
prophetic declaration is that it shall break these 
kingdoms into pieces, and consume them; but Bro. 



84 The Renewed Earth. 

Cary informs us upon his own ipse dixit that it shall 
not "interfere with, abolish, nor take the place of" 
these kingdoms. Here are some plain contradic- 
tions. Reader, which is right, the prophet, or the 
Georgia preacher? Which do you accept, Daniel 
of Babylon? or Daniel of Boston? Again, our 
Bro. Cary says, concerning the earthly kingdom of 
Christ, "If it had been His ultimate design to estab- 
lish a temporal reign on earth, and He was to sit 
upon the throne of David, how easy it would have 
been to inform the disciples of this fact." (Sec. 
Com. of Christ, p. 92.) So much for Cary. Listen 
a moment to Jesus, "When the Son of man shall 
sit on the throne of His glory, then shall ye also 
sit upon twelve thrones judging the twelve tribes 
of Israel." Are these twelve tribes on earth or in 
heaven? I should say, On earth. What say you, 
reader? Now, hear the angel who stands in God's 
presence, and who was commissioned to announce 
to Mary the birth of Jesus: 

"He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the 
Highest; and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne 
of His father David: 

"And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and 
of his kingdom there shall be no end." (Luke 1:32,33.) 

Gabriel states that Christ shall sit upon the 
throne of David and reign over the house of Jacob. 
Jacob was a Syrian, and David was his son, his de- 
scendant. Jacob's inheritance was in the land of 
Canaan, and it was there that David reigned, and 
over an earthly constituency. He had no throne 



As to the Kingdom. 85 

in heaven; but Christ is His literal descendant after 
the flesh, being born of Mary, and as literal was His 
descent from the king of Israel, the son of Jesse, 
so shall be His reign "over the house of Jacob" 
and the empire of David. 

The trouble with our brethren and those of their 
way of thinking is their freedom in interpreting 
Scripture; instead of taking the Bible for what it 
says, and allowing it to be authoritative, rather 
than their preconceived opinions, they conceive 
their opinions to be the standard of doctrine and 
interpret the Word to suit their predilections. 
When the Word gets in the way of their opinions, 
they forthwith spiritualize away its meaning. In- 
deed, one of their leading writers, after quoting 
Isa. 2:4; 11:9; Psa. 2:8, etc., says: "These and many 
other prophecies equally as precious clearly set 
forth the fact of a reign of righteousness most 
glorious upon this earth. The theory that this 
condition of things is to be ushered in by the per- 
sonal appearing of Christ to reign a thousand lit- 
eral years upon the earth, is founded upon Jewish 
Rabbinical tradition, misapplied by Judaistic Chris- 
tians. The destructive work began by adhering to 
the literal interpretation of the Scriptures." 
Reader, did you notice those last words? Let me 
spell .them out in capitals for you. THE DE- 
STRUCTIVE WORK BEGAN BY ADHERING 
TO THE LITERAL INTERPRETATION OF 
THE SCRIPTURES. There you have it, flat and 
straight. The author of the above words is well- 
known as a "holiness" evangelist. How many 



86 The Renewed Earth. 

people, suppose you, can be induced to honor and 
obey the Bible, if it is "destructive" to take it at 
its face value? And that is Post-Millennialism — 
is it holiness? This same writer elsewhere says: 
"No doubt a desire to secure acceptance with the 
Jews prompted some of the earlier fathers to pro- 
mulgate the literal interpretation of prophecy, 
rather than antagonize them." O ye good bishops 
and others who follow the teachings of Wesley, 
the writer of the above is a Methodist preacher. 
Shades of the Wesleys! 

Of course, any student of the Bible is well aware 
that there are symbols and figures, parables and 
allegories in the Word. But when these occur 
they appear as such on the surface, as when Jesus 
said, "I am the vine," "I am the door," "I am the 
way." That these are figures is evident; they 
plainly have spiritual meanings. But by what au- 
thority shall we vindicate the setting aside of the 
plain declarations of prophecy concerning the com- 
ing, the kingdom, and the reign of Christ for men's 
fallacious spiritualizings. It is asserted over and 
over, in the plainest Bible language, that Christ 
shall reign on the earth, and that He shall succeed 
to the throne of David. I maintain that a fair 
treatment of God's Word requires us to believe that 
these things will occur literally — just as the Book 
says they will. Here is where I part company with 
my Post-Millennial brethren. Their method of 
"interpreting" the Scripture renders null and void 
many of its most forceful and important passages. 
We know that the Jews have blundered in their 



As to the Kingdom. 87 

spiritualizing of the prophecies which indicate the 
humble birth, lowly walk, and ignominious death 
of our Saviour. Their method of "interpreting" 
the prophetic teachings nullified them and led the 
interpreters into wicked and destructive rejection 
of the Messiahship of Jesus. May not our breth- 
ren of to-day fall into a like hurtful error in spir- 
itualizing away those prophecies which declare the 
coming kingdom and everlasting reign of our Lord 
on the earth? 

As illustrative of the extent to which our Post- 
Millennial brethren are driven in their repudiation 
of the plain teachings of the Bible, we call atten- 
tion to the following, which is an extract from 
"An Outline of Christian Theology," by Wm. New- 
ton Clarke, Professor of Christian Theology in 
Colgate University, Hamilton, N. Y. He says: 

"Christ's coming was not accomplished in any 
one event. In reality, the event in which it was 
announced and introduced was the gift of the Holy 
Spirit on the day of Pentecost; and its first great 
providential accompaniment in history was the 
overthrow of Jerusalem. But His coming is not 
an event; it is a progress that includes innumerable 
events, a perpetual advance of Christ in the activity 
of His kingdom It has continued until now, and 
is still moving on. Christ came long ago, but He 
is truly the Coming One, for He is still coming, and 
is yet to come. 

"No visible return of Christ to the earth is to be 
expected, but rather the long and steady advai 
of His spiritual kingdom. The expectation 1 



88 The Renewed Earth. 

single dramatic advent corresponds to the Jewish 
doctrine of the nature of the kingdom, but not to 
the Christian. Jews, supposing the kingdom of 
the Messiah to be an earthly reign, would naturally 
look for the bodily presence of the King; but 
Christians who know the spiritual nature of His 
reign, may well be satisfied with a spiritual pres- 
ence, mightier than if it were v seen. If our Lord 
will but complete the spiritual coming that He has 
begun, there will be no need of a visible advent to 
make perfect His glory on the earth." (Page 444.) 
And this is the kind of stuff that young theo • 
logues are being fed on at Colgate University! No 
wonder that the church is full of infidelity and is 
becoming the laughing-stock of men, when its so- 
called Christian teachers are pouring such bald in- 
fidelity out upon the world, Jesus says in many 
places that "They shall see the Son of man com- 
ing," but the professor of Christian theology in a 
great university advertises his infidelity — bald, un- 
disguised infidelity — by blandly informing us, "No 
visible return of Christ to the earth is to be ex- 
pected." The white-robed messengers of heaven 
told the up-gazing disciples on the Mount of As- 
cension, "This same Jesus shall so come in like 
manner as ye have SEEN Him go." (Acts 1:11-) 
But Wm. Newton Clarke informs us that "the ex- 
pectation of a single dramatic advent corresponds 
with the Jewish doctrine of the nature of the king- 
dom, but not with the Christian!" To the lonely 
Seer of Patmos, it was announced from the upper 
world, "Lo! He cometh with clouds, and every eye 



As to the Kingdom. 89 

shall see Him; and all the tribes of the land shall 
smite themselves for Him." (Rev. 1:7, Rotherham.) 
But a professor of theology in the nineteenth 
century boldly declares such an advent is "dramat- 
ic," "Jewish," and in conflict with the spiritual 
presence of our Lord! What weight has the Word 
of God with such men? Would they treat Shake- 
speare, Byron, or even Voltaire thus? Let us be 
done with such folly, If we believe God's Word 
let us confess it to the world; but if we would be 
wise above what is written, let us burn the old 
Book, and join Confucius, Mahomet and Joe Smith 
in making us Bibles of our own. 

Prom a Southern Methodist preacher, of broad 
influence and ripe scholarship, long connected with 
Vanderbilt University, and at present a presiding 
elder in the Louisville Conference, we have lan- 
guage that, while not so directly contradictory of 
specific Bible teachings as the above, is yet calcu- 
lated to undermine the power and influence of the 
prophecies. I speak of Rev. Gross Alexander, 
whose book, "The Son of Man," is being widely 
heralded as a great production, and vigorously 
pushed at Nashville. Prom this book we make the 
following extract concerning Jesus: 

"Not only did He repudiate the current worldly 
view, and consistently refuse to incorporate any 
element of it into His own, He showed Himself 
independent of and superior to the Old Testament 
Scriptures themselves in refusing to adopt or ac- 
commodate Himself to the mixed view which is 
presented in almost all, if not all. the Old Testa- 



90 The Renewed Earth. 

ment prophecies concerning the kingdom of God. 
For while these declare that it was to be a kingdom 
of righteousness, or imply it, as being the king- 
dom of God, they almost invariably include world- 
ly elements, such as the employment of physical 
force in the establishment of it or the exercise of 
temporal power over other nations. We can easily 
correct these views by reading into them the spir- 
itual ideas which we have gotten from Jesus, but 
without these we should probably interpret them 
as the Jews of the time of Christ did. It is the 
more surprising that in view of this feature of the 
prophetic and Scriptural representations of the 
kingdom Jesus kept so consistently and so rigidly 
aloof from every element of a temporal -national 
kind. In Jesus' conception and presentation, the 
kingdom of God was purely spiritual and ethical, 
without the least admixture of heterogenous ele- 
ments." (Pages 118,119.) 

Again he says, on page 122, "In His apprehen- 
sion and comprehension of the kingdom of God, 
its character and meaning, He was solitary, In- 
stead of being helps to the understanding of it, the 
opinions of His contemporaries and the outlines 
given in the Old Testament, would have been hin- 
drances to any other man. To Him, they were not. 
But His originality seems all the greater, in that 
He rose above them." 

Now, this is a legitimate product of the spirit- 
ualizing methods of Post-Millennialism. Our dear 
brother would actually make us believe that Jesus 
had to rise above the teachings of the prophets in 



As to the Kingdom. 91 

order to maintain His spiritual dignity, proclaim 
His true Gospel and unfold the real nature of His 
kingdom. He must be "independent of and supe- 
rior to the Old Testament Scriptures themselves," 
and must refuse "to adopt or to accommodate Him- 
self to the mixed view which is presented in almost 
all, if not all, the Old Testament prophecies con- 
cerning the kingdom of God." That is, the only 
way that Jesus could appear before us in His true 
dignity, as interpreted by Rev. Gross Alexander, 
is to set aside the plain teachings of the prophets, 
and inaugurate an altogether different type of 
teaching. Now, I have been led to believe that, 
"all Scripture is given by inspiration of God and 
is profitable," (2 Tim. 3:16), for "holy men of God 
spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.'' 
(2 Pet. 1:21.) Are the prophets inspired? Did 
Govl speak through them? If so, whose "views" 
were "mixed?" Deliver me. I may be heterodox, 
but I yet believe that the prophets speak the truth 
of God, and that no spiritualizing interpretations 
are needed from a theological professor to so in- 
terpret the Christ and the prophecies as that one 
may not be canceled by the other. It may be barely 
possible that the error is Rev. Gross Alexander's, 
rather than the prophets'.* 

* Wonder if the authorities at Nashville will forgive this 
liberty in criticising the teachings of a book issued with the 
imprimatur of the Southern Methodist Pub. House? I sent 
an ad. of my book, "The Blessed Hope.*' to the Nashville 
Christian Advocate, but it was rejected as unsound. I prom- 
ise the dear brethren that none of my writings shall ever 
treat the prophecies of God's Word as the above extract. 



92 The Renewed Earth. 

Men ridicule the idea of the reign of Christ on 
earth, and declare with a great flourish of trum- 
pets that He is already reigning in the heavens. 
Richard Abbey writes it down thus, "Christ is in 
the right place — just as visible, just as invisible, as 
the wants of the case require. His kingly power 
and all his other power is exercised in exactly the 
right way. He now views the earth, the world, 
man, society, governments, families, church and 
each and every individual person from the point of 
observation, which is exactly the best." (Diutur- 
nity, p. 272.) Again, hear him, "The Savior as He 
is, and where He is, proposes to you and to me, and 
to all who have lived before, as well as to the mil- 
lions who shall follow us, that by and through this 
gospel, without any civil rule or second coming, - 
, . . . that by this means and this alone the long- 
lost glories of Eden shall return to earth, and the 
bowers of sinless paradise shall adorn and embel- 
lish every plain, and every mountain, and every 
hill- side, moral, mental and physical, in all this 
green earth.'' (Ibid, p. 301.) And yet again, "A 
visible second coming would be unwise and unphilo- 
sophical." (P. 304.) Is it possible that a preacher 
of the gospel can have so little regard for the 
plain, simple declarations of the inspired Word as 
this: Jesus Himself said, "They shall SEE THE 
SON OF MAN coming in the clouds of heaven." 
(Matt. 24:30; Luke 21:27.) The angel said, "This 
same Jesus shall come in like manner as you have 
SEEN HIM GO." (Acts 1:11.) In the Apocalypse 
we read, "Behold he cometh with clouds, and 



As to the Kingdom. 93 

every eye shall SEE HIM." (1:7.) But our brother 
has reached the point, in an effort to sustain his 
theory, his human creed, that he declares a visible 
second coming would be "unwise" and "unphilo- 
sophical." And here you-have the results of Post- 
Millennial spiritualizing in its maturity. Shades 
of Swedenborg! 

But our opponents quote Scripture. Let us ex- 
amine some of the passages on which they rely to 
see if they sustain the view in the interests of 
which they are put forward. Here is a favorite: 

"When they therefore were come together, they asked of 
him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the 
kingdom to Israel? 

"And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the 
times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own 
power." (Acts 1:6, 7.) 

Their reasoning is that Christ will never restore 
the kingdom to Israel, else He would have an- 
swered the disciples specifically as to the date. 
One of them says: "Here He not only teaches 
that the crude and materialistic notions about the 
nature of His kingdom were wrong, but He clearly 
shows them that His reign is to be spiritual in its 
nature, for He seeks to lead their minds from a 
carnal and earthly kingdom to the reign of the 
Holy Spirit." (C. C. Cary, "Sec. Com!, p. 92.) 
This comment is wide of the mark. The Master 
did not so much as hint that the kingdom should 
never be restored to Israel. He simply hid the 
time of His coming and kingdom from them as He 



94 The Renewed Earth. 

had always done before. "It is not for you to know 
the times or the seasons 1 ' — simply this and nothing 
more. He does not charge them with folly In the 
question, or in any wise deny that the kingdom 
will be set up, but bids them to seek in his absence 
to be baptized and filled with the Holy Ghost, and 
in this power to bear testimony for Him. It is sim- 
ply the equivalent of His other saying, "Of that 
day and hour knoweth no man." One had as well 
argue from this last saying of the Christ that He 
will never come again, as to contend from Acts 
1:7 that He will never restore the kingdom to 
Israel. To deny the restoration of God's ancient 
people to their land and Christ's reign over them as 
David's heir would be a direct contradiction of the 
prophets. (See Hosea 3:4, 5; Ezekiel 36:19-38 and 
chapter 37 entire; also Jeremiah 23:3-8, and 31:24- 
40.) The kingdom shall indeed be restored to 
Israel! But neither the day nor the hour is re- 
vealed. 

Another favorite resort of the brethren of the 
Post-Millennial school is Jno. 18:36. "My king- 
dom is not of this world." From this they try to 
prove that our Lord will never reign in person 
over this earth. But such interpretation is far- 
fetched. The Greek word rendered "of" is "e&," 
and is most commonly rendered from, or out of. 
The simple meaning is, that our Lord's kingdom is 
not earth-born, it has heavenly rather than earthly 
origin. It is from above, and partakes of the spirit 
and character of the upper world. But by this He 
could never have meant to convey the idea that 



As to the Kingdom. 95 

His kingdom should not cover the earth and ex- 
tend over its nations and peoples, for this is plainly 
taught in many of the prophecies. He ' 'shall be 
king over all the earth," and ''shall have dominion 
from sea to sea," even "under the whole heaven." 
These are the plain words of the prophets. 

Another favorite text of our opponents is Luke 
17:20,21. "The kingdom of God cometh not with 
observation," "for behold the kingdom of God is 
within you." The Master simply declared that the 
kingdom was not as yet visible, cometh not now, at 
the time when He was speaking, "with observa- 
tion." Indeed, Rotherham renders it, "cometh not 
with narrow-watchings,"thatis, slowly, gradually, 
to be inspected by the curious and critical. But in 
the day of His glory He will shine forth like the 
sun in His brightness, or as the lightning that 
flasheth athwart the heavens from east to west. 
(Matt. 24:27.) No man can narrowly watch and 
critically discern the lightning. It is too quick for 
him. So with the coming kingdom. Jesus said at 
one time that there were some standing present 
who should not taste of death till they had SEEN 
Him coming in His kingdom. (Matt. 16:27,28.) This 
was fulfilled in the transfiguration, which is de- 
scribed in the verses following. Peter, pointing 
to this same vision in the Holy Mount, declared 
that they had not followed cunningly devised fa- 
bles in making known to the people "the power 
and coming of our Lord Jesus," but "were eye- 
witnesses of His majesty." Now, it is manifest 



96 The Renewed Earth. 

that in this instance the kingdom came with ob- 
servation. 

We are now in the devil's age (2 Cor. 4:4), the day 
of his power and glory. But Jesus spoke of an- 
other time, as follows: 

"For as the lightning, that lighteneth out of the one part 
under heaven, shineth unto the other part under heaven; so 
shall also the Son of man be in his day." (Luke 17:24.) 

"In His day!" Wonderful will be the time! 
Great will be the glory when the dominion of Satan 
is overthrown and Christ is here in visible and 
matchless glory. No longer will it then be said 
the kingdom of God cometh not with observation. 

"But," says one, "the kingdom is within you." 
Please observe, reader, this language was spoken 
to the Pharisees. Are we to understand that the 
royal reign was already accomplished in them, that 
the spiritual kingdom was in those quibbling, de- 
riding Pharisees? Certainly not. What did the 
Master mean? Simply, as the passage is often 
rendered, "the kingdom is among you." So Roth- 
erham. The Interlinear New Testament renders, 
"In the midst of you." Where the King is, there 
is the kingdom, Christ is king, and He was then 
among them, in their midst. When he returns in 
princely glory, the kingdom will again be among 
us, in our midst, over us. 

Having swept the most common objections and 
strongholds of our critics from the field, we chal- 
lenge any one to produce one single scripture 
which asserts that the reign of Christ is confined 



As to the Kingdom. 97 

to heaven, or that His throne belongs only to the 
heavens! He is now sitting with His Father in His 
throne. He promises the overcomer, however, a 
place on His own throne in the crowning day. "To 
him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me on 
my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set 
down with my Father on His throne. 5 ' (Rev. 3:21.) 
This clearly draws a distinction between the throne 
of the Father, upon which the Son is now seated, 
and the throne of His own glory, to be occupied by 
Him and His faithful in the day of His coming. So 
Jesus said, "When the Son of man shall sit in the 
throne of His glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve 
thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel." 
From this it is plain that Jesus will not occupy His 
own throne until the Judgment, which is yet future. 
But at that time, "when" He shall sit upon the 
throne of His glory, His faithful disciples shall also 
be enthroned. 

THE KINGDOM ON EARTH— POSITIVE PROOFS. 

That the kingdom of our Lord in His glory shall 
be upon the earth, and not simply in the heavens, 
as many contend, is clearly shown by the following 
nine lines of scriptural argument: 

1. "Thy kingdom come.' v (Matt. 6:10.) There 
is a great difference between that which comes and 
that which goes. In our daily prayer we ask that 
His kingdom may come. We a e certainly on 
earth. When the kingdom of our Saviour comes, it 
also will be on earth. The wording of this prayer 
is His own, which guarantees its fulfillment; in 

7 



98 The Renewed Earth. 

due course of time the kingdom shall ' 'come" to 
earth. 

2. The saints are to judge the earth. (1 Cor. 6:2.) 
No judgment is committed unto the saints till Christ 
shall be seated on His throne. This is not the day 
of their judgment, but of their humiliation. They 
cannot judge the earth before the Lord Himself is 
ready for His work. When He judges, they shall 
judge with Him. As the judgment is yet future, 
so the throne, and consequently the kingdom, are 
yet future. But in the time appointed they shall 
judge — not the heavens, but the earth. 

3. Saints shall reign with Him. In Revelation 20:4 
we have a picture of the saints in resurrection power 
and glory and are told they shall reign "with 
Him.'' Again, in chapter 5:10, the blood- washed 
declare, "We shall reign on earth." Now, some of 
our Post-Millennial brethren have tried to over- 
throw the force of this argument by saying these 
are different passages. Very well; suppose they 
are. A careful reading of the two scriptures will 
give us this logical conclusion: "They shall reign" 
with Him. Such is our major premise. They shall 
"reign on the earth/' Here is our minor premise. 
The conclusion is inevitable: They reign on the 
earth; He reigns where they reign, for they reign 
with Him, therefore He, "with them," shall reign 
"on the earth.' 7 Now, what becomes of the argu- 
ment that the kingdom is only in heaven, that it is 
not an earthly kingdom? It certainly is not earth- 
ly in its origin, not worldly in its spirit, but its field 
is the world, and its spirit that of the heavens. He 



As to the Kingdom. 99 

with His risen saints shall reign in the spirit of the 
heavens over the nations of the earth. 

4. Martyrs shall reign. Those whom John saw 
placed upon thrones, to whom judgment was given, 
and who reign with Christ during the thousand 
years, are martyrs, and such as received not the mark 
of the beast. (Rev. 20:4.) Again, he had a vision of 
the elders before the throne, and they praised God 
and the Lamb and sang the new song, telling of 
their redemption by the blood of the Lamb out of 
all the nations, and there before the throne and 
with the approval of God and the angels they de- 
clared "We shall reign on the earth." (Rev. 5:9,10.) 
Who were they? They were the spirits of just 
men made perfect. They did not say we shall 
reign in heaven, but rather, we shall reign on the 
earth. They did not say the gospel will progress 
till men are all saved as we were, and till those like 
us, those with martyr spirits, shall reign, but they 
rather looked forward and declared "we" shall 
reign. They never spoke of having reigned in 
other days when, through the good Spirit, they 
gained victories over self and sin; but looking for- 
ward these holy spirits said we "shall'' — future 
tense — reign on the earth. The seer got a vision 
of their resurrection and enthronement later, and 
declared that those martyrs "lived again" and 
reigned with Christ a thousand years. If they are 
reigning to-day it is in a disembodied condition, 
for the resurrection is not till Jesus comes. (1 Cor. 
15:23; 1 Thess. 4:16,17.) It is when He comes that 
the twelve apostles sit on thrones judging. If they 



ioo The Renewed Earth. 

reign now, before the resurrection, it lands us in 
the worst form of spiritism, and it indicates very 
small results in the reign, for we certainly see very 
little of kingly power displayed in behalf of right- 
eousness. So it is after His coming that they * 'live 
again," and it is then that they reign "on the 
earth." 

5. The saints, the meek, are to inherit the earth. 
(Matt. 5:5.) The Master does not say they have 
inherited it, or they do now inherit it, but they 
"shall inherit" it. This is a promise, and it will 
find its fulfillment in due time. Daniel tells us in 
his account of the vision, "The time came that the 
saints possessed the kingdom." But this was not 
till "the Ancient of days came," then the "judg- 
ment was given to the saints," and they took the 
kingdom. (Dan. 7:21,22.) 

6. Daniel describes the rise and progress of four 
great world empires. He declares that they shall 
be superseded by a fifth, which "the God of heaven 
shall — not has — setup." He informs us that it shall 
smash and sweep utterly from the field all these 
previous empires, and shall occupy the ground 
upon which they have held sway. But they were 
on the earth. This kingdom, therefore, which su- 
persedes them will be on the earth. (Dan. 2d and 
7th chapters.) 

7. Nations, languages and peoples. We read in 
many Scriptures, notably Dan. 7:14, that the divine 
dominion shall extend, when Jesus comes in the 
clouds, over "peoples, nations and languages. n 
Now these are manifestly used to describe the con- 



As to the Kingdom. 101 

dition of things on earth and not in heaven. Surely 
the sanctified hosts in the New Jerusalem are not 
divided into languages, tribes, nations, etc. In 
fact, there was but one language on earth, until the 
impious Babel-builders, defying God, found them- 
selves utterly routed by the confusion of their 
speech. Since the divine kingdom is to take pos- 
session of all languages, and earth is the theater of 
varied speech, perhaps the only field of many lan- 
guages, the conclusion is that the kingdom shall 
be here. 

8. Under the heavens. (Dan. 7:27.) 

Now that which is ' 'under the heaven" must be 
on the earth. It cannot be said that this kingdom 
is located in the heaven, without contradicting the 
Scripture before us, which places it "under" rather 
than "in." There is greatness in this kingdom, 
and it is in the possession of the saints, and it is 
"under the heaven," hence on the earth. 

9. King over all the earth. (Zech. 14:9.) 

We would like to have the reader study this 
chapter from the prophet carefully, especially the 
first eleven verses, (a) The great tribulation is 
inaugurated by the gathering of armies against 
Jerusalem. (Verses 1, 2.) (b) The Lord then 
fights the nations as they fought Jerusalem, thus 
enlarging the field of the great tribulation, 
(v. 3.) (c) His feet stand then upon the Mt. of 
Olives, which splits from east to west, leaving a 
great valley, (vs. 4, 5.) This same earthquake is 
depicted in the 11th of Revelation, (d) The saints 
appear with the Lord, as so frequently mentioned 



102 The Renewed Earth. 

in the New Testament Scriptures. "The Lord my 
God shall come, and all the saints with thee." (v. 5.) 
(See Judges 14:15.) (e) -Living waters go forth 
from Jerusalem, (v. 8.) If this be taken literally, 
the arid land becomes well watered by the opening 
of a subterranean fountain by the great earthquake. 
If considered spiritually it represents a marvelous 
spread of gospel light and truth. No doubt it in- 
volves both ideas, (f) The day of the Lord is one 
of peculiar atmospheric conditions. It has neither 
the darkness of the night nor the light of the day. 
(v. 7.) (g) Then we have the remarkable declara- 
tion that the Lord becomes king; where? in the 
heavens, as our Post-Millennial friends wish us to 
believe? Nay, but on earth, (v. 9.) This passage 
is a death-blow to Post-Millennialism. They tell 
us of a spiritual reign of Christ on earth through 
gospel agencies only, before the visible coming of 
Christ in the clouds. But it is after He comes with 
all His saints that this kingship, "over all the 
earth," is announced, (h) What next? Dowe find, 
as some would have us believe, an end of all things 
at this juncture? Let the prophet answer. If his 
word is inspired, it shall be final. He speaks of ' 'the 
land," of ' 'Jerusalem, " and says, "It shall be lifted 
up and inhabited in her place from Benjamin's gate 
unto the place of the first gate .... and men 
shall dwell in it, and there shall be no more utter 
destruction, but Jerusalem shall be safely in- 
habited." (vs. 10, 11.) Post-Millennialists would 
have us believe that no one shall be saved after our 
Lord's return. They are also very insistent that 



As to the Kingdom. 103 

the world shall be wiped out and all its affairs 
wound up after this coming in the clouds with the 
saints. How different the prophet of God from 
the Post-Millenniaiists. He beholds an inhabited 
Jerusalem and a world under the dominion of the 
personal Christ, whose feet stand on the well- 
known and definitely-located mountain — not in the 
far-away, dreamy realms of unmeasured space, but 
on the solid mountain crest, the Mt. of Olives, 
which is ' 'east of Jerusalem." It is evident Zecha- 
riah was no Post-Millennialist. His God is my 
God, his teaching authoritative in my creed. 



IN CONCLUSION. 

As a kind of summary of this subject we wish to 
present the following lines of contrast between the 
church in its most spiritual sense, the kingdom as 
it now is, as represented by the reign of Christ in 
the hearts of men, and the kingdom as it shall be, 
after the coming of the Lord. 

1. The church is a little flock, persecuted and 
trodden down by its foes. (John 16:1-3.) But the 
kingdom shall crush its foes, sweep all opposition 
from the field and fill the earth. (Dan. 2:44.) 

2. Flesh and blood constitute the church, for it 
is a human organization, and adapted to the pres- 
ent conditions. But it cannot inherit the kingdom. 
(1 Cor. 15:50.) 

3. The church runs low, having a Laodicean 
termination. The last of the seven churches of Asia 
is the most unsatisfactory of them all. (Rev. 



104 The Renewed Earth. 

3:15, 16.) But the kingdom has no such ebbs. It 
is to be grand and glorious at every stage. 

4. The kingdom is uniform, being perfectly 
united; but the church is split into a thousand sects, 
and is often characterized by wrangling and dis- 
sension. 

5. Tribulation precedes the establishment of the 
kingdom. (Matt. 24:29, 30.) But if the church 
was inaugurated with Abraham, or even with Pen- 
tecost, it had no such beginning. Even if the de- 
struction of Jerusalem was the great tribulation, it 
did not occur till thirty-seven years after Pentecost. 

6. In its spiritual sense, Christians only consti- 
tute the church. As the body of Christ, it is com- 
posed of real believers, who know and love God. 
But it is to such as these that the kingdom is 
given. "Hath not God chosen the poor of this 
world, rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom 
which He hath promised to them that love Him? 
(James 2:5.) They are already rich in faith, but 
the kingdom is not yet entered, simply "promised" 
to them. 

7. The apostles were in the church in the days of 
Jesus. Christ said He had manifested the Father's 
name to them. (John 17:6.) Butthe kingdom was 
promised to them in the coming, the regeneration, 
time. (Matt. 19:28.) 

8. We take the "fruit of the vine" now (not a fer- 
mented wine, but the pure juice of the grape) in 
the church, but will drink it new with Jesus in the 
kingdom. (Mark 14:25.) 



As to the Kingdom. 105 

9. The church has already come, it is here. But 
we are yet praying, "Thy kingdom come." 

10. "Church" and "kingdom" are not inter- 
changeable terms in Bible usage, as we have fully 
shown. 

11. The kingdom is the reward for faithfulness, 
but only those who are in the church are faithful. 
(Rev. 2:26,27.) Hence, they will receive the king- 
dom in the day of rewards. 

12. It is to those who are in the church that the 
promise is made of an abundant entrance (yet 
future) which shall be ministered unto them, "into 
the everlasting kingdom." (2 Pet. 1:11.) 

13. The apostles looked forward to the kingdom, 
even when they were in the church. (Acts 1:6,7.) 

14. It is after the return of Christ that He builds 
the Davidic throne, upon which He shall sit and 
reign in the kingdom. (Acts 15:14-17.) 

15. It is after the termination of the church age 
that the voices in heaven cry, "Now is come the 
kingdom," etc. (Rev. 11:15 and 12:10.) 

16. In the kingdom the saints will judge. (1 Cor. 
6:2.) But in the church age they are judged. (Jno. 
12:42 and 16:2.) 

17. Christ will be on His own throne in the king- 
dom. (Matt. 25:31.) At present He is on the Fath- 
er's throne. (Rev. 3:21.) 

18. The blood-washed, martyr saints point to the 
future, saying, "We shall reign on the earth." (Rev. 
5:10.) This is fulfilled after the coming of Christ 
and the binding of Satan. (Rev. 19:11 and 20:4.) 

19. When Jesus comes, and the nations are g:uh- 



106 The Renewed Earth. 

ered before Him, He bids His faithful and true ones 
enter upon their inheritance in the kingdom pre- 
pared for them. (Matt. 25:34.) 

20. Now is the time in which the faithful suffer, 
but those who endure for Him shall reign with Him. 
(2 Tim. 2:12.) 

21. This is the day for enduring' hardness and 
fighting the good fight of faith. (2 Tim. 2:3 and 
4:7.) But those who win the fight shall wear the 
crown "in that day." (2 Tim. 4:8.) 

22. At present the Lord's flock is little (Luke 
12:32), and to be. fed by the Lord's under shep- 
herds. But those who are faithful shall eat in that 
day of the hidden manna at the Lord's table, and 
receive a crown of glory from the Chief Shepherd, 
when He "shall appear." (Rev. 2:17; 1 Pet. 5:4.) 

23. In Nebuchadnezzar's dream, the worldly king- 
doms all run their full race, even to the toe-stage, 
before the Lord sets up His kingdom. But then it 
smites the image, grinds it to dust, fills the whole 
earth and continues forever. (Dan. 2:34-44.) 

24. It is after the tribulation times, in which the 
Lord punishes "the host of the high ones," that 
His Judgments end in triumph, and so we read 
that He "shall reign in Mt. Zion and in Jerusalem 
gloriously." (Isa. 24:21-23.) For a terrific picture 
of the great tribulation, read the entire chapter. 

Let all the children of God walk humbly and 
faithfully; let them serve diligently and live holily 
that they may share in the glories of the coming 
kingdom. 



Times of the Gentiles. 107 



CHAPTER V. 
Times of the Gentiles. 



What is the meaning of this expression, "The 
times of the Gentiles"? It is used in a number of 
places in the New Testament. Jesus tells us that 
"Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles 
until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled." Paul 
speaks of it, saying that "blindness in part is hap- 
pened to Jerusalem until the fullness of the Gen- 
tiles be come in." (Rom. 11:25.) The Seer of Pat- 
mos was instructed to not measure the court of the 
temple, "for it is given unto the Gentiles, and the 
Holy City shall they tread under foot, forty and 
two months." (Rev. 11:1-5.) Whatever this times 
of the Gentiles may mean, we readily discern that 
it involves two things, (a) Rulership, or Govern- 
mental pre-eminence, and (b) Special gospel priv- 
ileges. We observe: 

1. God originally chose Israel as a peculiar na- 
tion unto Himself, that they should be a people 
separate from other nations, and that they should 
be characterized by holiness He said, "Ye shall 
be unto me a kingdom of priests, an holy nation." 
(Ex. 19:5,6.) "Thou art an holy people unto the 
Lord thy God; the Lord thy God hath chosen thee 
to be a special people unto himself, above all peo- 
ple that are upon the face of the earth. 11 (Dent 7:6 



io8 The Renewed Earth. 

and 14:2.) Now we know that Israel was a king- 
dom; God recognized it as such. We read, "The 
kingdom is the Lord $ s " (Psa. 22 :27, 28. ) To David 
He said, "I will establish thy kingdom; I will 
establish thy throne forever " (1 Chron. 17:11,12.) 
Israel was never termed a church, but always a 
kingdom. When the Gentiles wished the sacred 
privileges of Israel, they only obtained them by 
becoming proselytes. 

2. "The times of the Gentiles" is a New Testa- 
ment term. It does not occur in the Old Testa- 
ment. Where it is used in the New Testament no 
comment or explanation of the term appears. It 
was always treated as a recognized fact. It was a 
period that seemed to be already in process, and 
fully understood by New Testament speakers and 
writers. 

3. Its characteristics (a) The expression, "times 
of the Gentiles," carries with it the thought of do- 
minion, of ruler ship. It is a recognition of the 
fact that the kingdom is taken from Israel, and 
that they are under the dominion and authority of 
the uncircumcised nations, whom they detested, 
and whose sovereignty they bitterly hated, (b) It 
is also a period of oppression. The Master said, 
Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, 
till their times shall be fulfilled. It implies a spirit 
of injustice toward Israel on the part of the na- 
tions, which God tolerates because of the sins of 
His ancient people, Because of their transgres- 
sions, the Jews have been driven out through all 
the earth, perishing with famine, pestilence and 



Times of the Gentiles. 109 

war. (Ezek. 5:12-15.) The kingdom which had 
belonged to Israel was rent from them by the 
hand of God. He said, * 'Remove the diadem, take 
off the crown," and at once added, "I will overturn, 
overturn, overturn it; and it shall be no more, un- 
til He come whose right it is, and I will give 
it Him." (Ezek. 21:26,27.) The Lord also foretold 
by the prophet that Israel should abide many days 
without a king. (Hos. 3:4.) The times of the Gen- 
tiles, therefore, are to be understood in the light 
of this wrenching of the crown and taking of the 
kingdom from the children of Israel. The reader 
will observe, that the crown is to be restored, the 
kingdom reinstated, when He shall come, "whose 
right it is. " Hosea tells us that Israel shall return, 
and "seek the Lord their God, and David their 
King." We are, therefore, bound to recognize the 
fact, that what is called the times of the Gentiles 
has reference to the dominion of the world being 
given into their hands, but that it is only for a lim- 
ited time. The limit of this period, however, is 
the return of Christ, the heir to the throne of 
David, the "King of the Jews." (Luke 23:38.) It 
is when He returns that the tabernacle of David is 
built up again. (Acts 15:16.) The restoration of 
the Jews, therefore, involves, not only their return 
to the land of Palestine, but their reinstatement in 
their kingdom. (Acts 1:6,7.) And their conse- 
quent sovereignty of the world will result under 
the beneficent reign of the Son of David. In Zech- 
ariah we read, "The Lord shall yet comfort Zion, 
and shall yet choose Jerusalem," and again, "The 



1 10 The Renewed Earth. 

Lord shall inherit Judah his portion in the Holy 
Land, and shall choose Jerusalem again." (Zech. 
1:17; 2:12.) Isaiah says, "The Lord will have 
mercy on Jacob, and will yet choose Israel and set 
them in their own land." (Isa. 14:1.) To "choose 
Jerusalem again," indicates its rejection and sub- 
sequent restoration, and its rejection implies the 
entrance of the Gentiles upon their heritage. All 
this forces upon us the conviction that the term, 
4 'times of the Gentiles," has special reference to 
their sovereignty of the world, through God's re- 
jection of Israel, (c) Their enthronement implies 
the degradation and servitude of Israel, and this 
explains why Jerusalem is "trodden down of the 
Gentiles." Now, we know that Gentile rule means 
godless rule, and so it has ever been. Wickedness 
is enthroned, and shall continue to be till the end 
of Gentile dominion, (d) Israel under her kings 
proved unworthy of the government. Conse- 
quently, they cannot be restored, under former 
conditions. Through their forfeiture of the king- 
dom, and its perversion by the Gentiles, it is clear 
that the rulership of earth must change hands be- 
fore righteousness can fill the world. This it shall 
do at the coming of Christ, which is clearly the 
limit of the Gentile times. It is at the culmination 
of this period, which goes out in fearful tribula- 
tion, having been previously characterized by 
supreme folly, and enthroned wickedness, that the 
Son of man is seen coming in the clouds, and the 
dejected disciples are bidden, "Look up," for "the 
kingdom of God is nigh at hand." (Luke 21:27-31.) 



Times of the Gentiles. in 

4. Its origin. When did the times of the Gentiles 
begin? Not in the days of Christ, for they were 
then recognized as already in authority ; ' 'the times" 
were theirs. This period had its beginning under 
Nebuchadnezzar, who carried Jehoiakim king of 
Judah to Babylon, about 606 B. C. To this mighty 
monarch was granted the vision of the great image 
which depicted the governments of the world down 
to the time of the Lord's coming. This image rep- 
resented rulership, and plainly began with Nebu- 
chadnezzar, the head of gold, following with the 
Medo-Persian, the Macedonian and the Roman em- 
pires, terminating in the ten kingdoms, represented 
by the toes of the image. Herein we find the mean- 
ing of the times of the Gentiles. Gentile dominion 
runs its course, to be supplanted by the stone king- 
dom, which the God of heaven shall set up, and 
which shall never be destroyed. And this is the 
kingdom which Jesus said should be "nigh at 
hand," when they should "see the Son of man 
coming in the clouds of heaven." Then it is that 
God "chooses Jerusalem again," and that the Jews 
return and seek David, their king. (Zech. 2:12; 
Hos. 3:4,5.) 

5. Its end. From the preceding remarks, we 
see that the times of the Gentiles shall continue till 
the coming of Christ. Consequently, the kingdom 
of the Lord cannot be set up and established till 
Gentile dominion terminates. But after the end of 
the Gentile times, the kingdom will be restored to 
Israel, and its throne occupied by the Son of David. 
Jesus said to the Jews, "Your house is ieft unto 



112 The Renewed Earth. 

you desolate, for I say unto you, Ye shall not 
see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is 
He that cometh in the name of the Lord.'' 
(Matt. 23:38,39.) We have witnessed the deso- 
lations of Zion, the world has seen Jerusalem 
in ruins, and Palestine rejected. But already 
the figtree is beginning to blossom. The long 
winter's night is passing away, and the spring- 
tide of hope is bursting over Judea. There are 
50,000 Jews in Jerusalem, which is more than at 
any time since the city's destruction by the Roman 
armies. The Gentile times are nearing an end. 

6. Spiritual privileges. The church period is an 
interregnum in the kingdom. It was nowhere 
specifically set forth in the prophets. It is the 
election of grace from Jew and Gentile, but blind- 
ness in part is on Israel during the church age. 
(Rom. 11.) But in due time, "the Deliverer shall 
come out of Zion, and shall turn away ungod- 
liness from Jacob." The Jews, being broken off 
from their own olive tree thro unbelief, the gospel 
of free grace is preached in its fullness to the Gen- 
tiles. If Jews are saved, they must now become 
"converts'" as the Gentiles were once "proselytes." 
When the kingdom is restored, the church as the 
bride of the Lamb will reign with Him and law and 
grace will combine to save the nations, and to re- 
deem the world. (Acts 15:17.) 

There is a remarkable feature connected with the 
history of Nebuchadnezzar, as the head of Gentile 
dominion. We remember that he had an insane 
spell that lasted for seven years. (Dan. 4.) After 



Times of the Gentiles. 113 

this, his reason returned and his dominion was re- 
stored. Is it possible, as many commentators 
think, that his season of madness, which lasted for 
seven years, portrays the condition of the world 
under Gentile supremacy ? There could scarcely 
be a more fitting figure of the governments of the 
world, than that of an insane monarch, running 
with the wild beasts. After the great king was 
restored to his reason he recognized the dominion 
as the Lord's. (Dan. 4:34.) So will the Gentile 
rulers do when their crazy times are fulfilled and 
the Lord becomes king of all the world. If we take 
the year for a day method of interpretation, and 
calculate by calendar time, which has 360 days to 
the year, his seven years of lunacy would represent 
a period of 7 times 360, which equals 2520 years as 
the measure of Gentile times. The overthrow of 
Jerusalem according to the common chronology 
was 606 B.C. The vision of the great image was 
in the year 603 B.C. If there is anything in this 
method of estimating, we are at present in from 11 
to 14 years of the end of the Gentile times. But 
of course this is altogether uncertain for several 
reasons, (a) The year-day theory may not, as a 
method of interpretation, hold good, (b) Even if 
it is a correct method, solar time might be used 
instead of calendar, which would make a difference 
of 35 years, lengthening the period by that much. 
(c) Our chronology is not inspired, and hence our 
dates may not be strictly correct. We do not there- 
fore set any great store by this method of interpre- 
tation. It is yet true that 44 of that day and hour. 



H4 The Renewed Earth. 

knoweth no man." But we may not be hurt by 
considering these things. The signs in the East 
are propitious, the Turkish government is going to 
pieces, the rainfall is greatly increasing in Pales- 
tine and the population rapidly augmenting, rail- 
roads are being built, towns are springing up, the 
Jews from the nations of the earth are turning 
longing eyes in the direction of their homeland, 
students of prophecy are arousing to the study of 
this question, and hungry- hearted saints are crying 
on bended knee for the end of the long, dark night 
of wickedness and the dawning of a better day, 
when the golden glories of the celestial kingdom 
shall flood the earth and sky and the King of 
saints shall rule the world. 

There is an idea abroad, advanced by Prof. Tot- 
ten and advocated by others, known as Anglo- 
Israelism. The advocates of this notion tell us 
that England and the United States, i.e., the Anglo- 
Saxon race, are the long-lost Ten Tribes of Israel, 
and that they are destined to rule the world. They 
point to their achievements, and to the extent of 
their colonial possessions, and argue that they are 
already beginning to take the kingdom. In the 
light of our remarks on the * 'Times of the Gen- 
tiles,'' we see that this theory is most likely a mis- 
take. The Ten Tribes surely cannot be classed as 
Gentiles. They are Israelites. But these are Gen- 
tile times, in which Gentile sovereignty is assured; 
the dominion is theirs, and shall continue to be, to 
the end of this dispensation and the coming of the 
.Lord. Israel is a crownless, kingless, homeless, 



Times of the Gentiles, 1 15 

scattered people, and there is no hope for them, 
except in the return of our Christ, their Messiah. 
Do not let the reader therefore be carried away 
with the idea that the Ten Tribes of Israel are gov- 
erning the world, or that they will be able to do so 
in this dispensation. Poor, despised, down-trodden 
Israel finds her only hope, her only prospect of 
advancement, of glory and power, in the descent of 
Him, who is indeed "the King of the Jews." For 
Israel's sake, for humanity's sake, let us reverently 
pray for the day of His appearing to dawn. 

•In the prophecy of Jeremiah (chap. 3:12-18), the 
Lord invites Israel to return from her backslidings, 
stating that, because of their transgressions, they 
have been scattered among strangers, but insisting 
that He loves them tenderly, even declaring, "I 
am married unto you." As a consequence, He 
promises to gather them, "one of a city, and two 
of a family," and bring them to Zion. Further- 
more, He pledges to give them pastors according 
to His own heart, and that under the nurture of 
such pastors, they shall be multiplied and * 'in- 
creased in the land." Their sorrows will be turned 
to joy and their weeping to laughter. To show the 
kingly honor and glory that shall be conferred upon 
them, and how the Lord will reign over them, and 
thro them over the nations, He declares, "At that 
time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of the 
Lord , and all nations shall be gathered unto it. to 
the name of the Lord, to Jerusalem. What will 
be the result? As a matter of course, the nation 
shall be saved He says, "Neither shall they walk 



1 1 6 The Renewed Earth. 

any more after the imagination of their evil heart." 
As a consequence, Judah and Israel shall again be 
united, "In those days shall the house of Judah 
walk with the house of Israel." But this does 
not occur during the Gentile times, for they shall 
tread Jerusalem down throughout the whole dis- 
pensation, until the return of Jesus, the King of 
the Jews. It is in His day, that "Judah shall be 
saved and Israel shall dwell safely." For to them, 
as to us, He is "THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUS- 
NESS."— Jer. 23:6. 



A Study of the Millennium. 117 

CHAPTER VI. 
A Study of the Millennium. 



This is an important branch of our investiga- 
tions. Much depends upon a correct view of the 
one thousand years. (Rev. 20:1-6.) There are 
those who limit the reign of Christ on earth to this 
period. A beautiful song has been composed, and 
is extensively sung, the burden of which is that 
"Christ shall reign a thousand years." This is 
true — and a gracious truth it is. It has its scheme 
in God's plan of the ages. But it is not His perfect 
or complete reign on earth. A careful investiga- 
tion of the Scriptures will reveal the fact that the 
kingdom of Christ shall never pass away. (Dan. 
7:14-18.) "He shall reign over the house of Jacob 
forever and of His kingdom there shall be no end. " 
(Luke 1:33.) Scores of similar passages could be 
furnished from the pages of Holy Writ. What is 
the place and the province of the Millennium in 
the Divine scheme? That it does not come in the 
present dispensation we have proven in other 
pages. It is a distinct dispensation. The Millen- 
nium is not the perfect kingdom, but simply the 
vestibule of it. It is a transition state from the 
fallen and wicked world to the holy, happy, puri- 
fied and sinless earth — a new Eden, loss the tempter. 
That it is not the kingdom in its fullness we under- 



n8 The Renewed Earth. 

take to show in this chapter. An excellent writer 
has said: 

"The moral character of the Millennial, as well 
as the political and material conditions of the world 
in that period, have been generally understood by 
students of prophecy as presenting an almost per- 
fect state of sinlessness, harmony and prosperity. 
It is a task possessing little of attractiveness or 
satisfaction to seek in the light of Scripture to 
show that in these respects our notions of the com- 
ing dispensation have been exaggerated, and the 
glory of the King correspondingly diminished. 
We have looked from our earth -prison and thought 
the outside light was heaven. We have paused to 
listen amid the groaning of creation and caught 
sounds of joy and liberty beyond that seemed to be 
those of perfect bliss. And this was natural. The 
heart found rest and soothing in the thought of a 
universal jubilee, an unruffled sea, an unbroken 
song of harmony, by contrast with its present 
gloom, and fondly believed that this was at once to 
come to pass. Yea, that it was even 'at the doors.' 
But in truth, the transition will not be so immedi- 
ate or so complete. A better dispensation is at 
hand, no doubt, with vast changes and tremendous 
blessings in its lap, but the perfect state will not be 
yet." (After The Thousand Years, pp. 29,30.) 

Elsewhere we purpose dealing with the renewed 
earth and the eternal kingdom of our Lord, but let 
us for the present see somewhat of the lights and 
shades of the next era that shall dawn upon our 
world — the Millennial. It belongs to earth and 



A Study of the Millennium. 119 

not to heaven; it belongs to time and not to eter- 
nity; it deals with mortals as well as immortals; it 
has much of sin, as well as a glorious progress of 
the truth and of holiness. These suggestions may 
astonish some of our readers, possibly many of 
them, but let us see what may be found in the Book 
of Divine Revelation on these phases of our sub- 
ject. That it will be the best dispensation since 
the fall is conceded, perhaps, on all hands, among 
Pre-Millennialists and those of the opposite school. 
We shall glance at the benefits of the Millennium. 

I. From a Negative Standpoint. 

What of evils will the coming dispensation be 
free from that afflict our present age? 

1. We observe the absence of Satan. He has been 
our most inveterate enemy, our most obstinate and 
powerful foe. It was he who deceived our pro- 
genitors in the garden of Eden. It is he who has 
misled our race, instigated its wars, corrupted its 
morals and spread disease and woe throughout its 
countless multitudes. Satan is God's chief rival 
and man's most destructive foe. His incarceration 
will be a great boon to the suffering sons of Adam. 
That he is to be bound and imprisoned for a thou- 
sand years, is not a matter of speculation, but of 
inspired revelation. 

In the Apocalypse, after a description of the 
opening heavens and the riding forth of King 
Jesus, together with the casting of Anti-Christ and 
the false prophet into the lake of fire (chapter 19), 
we have the plain declaration that a mighty angel 



120 The Renewed Earth. 

comes down from heaven, seizes Satan, the dragon, 
the old serpent, and ''casts him into the abyss and 
seals him up for a thousand years, that he may 
deceive the nations no more till the thousand years 
be fulfilled." Our Post-Millennial brethren are 
driven to dire straits when confronted with this 
passage. That it portrays the inauguration of a 
new reign on earth, and a new condition of things, 
is evident. If they admit the literalness of this 
prediction, their theory of the Millennium is at an 
end. Consequently, they have resorted to a sys- 
tem of spiritualizing this and kindred declarations 
of the prophets, by which they suppose the chain- 
ing of Satan to be simply an increase of gospel in- 
fluence in the earth. That their position is unten- 
able and absurd is evident from the following, 
among many reasons: 

(a) The Seer does not describe an army of preach- 
ers going forth and meeting with great success, 
but a mighty angel descending from the skies, 
(b) The capture is not a picture of great revivals 
and the consequent conversion of many souls to 
Christ. If men were caught by the gospel, it 
would mean their freedom, rather than their im- 
prisonment. But here the revelation is made of 
the actual capture, not of men, but of Satan, and 
his identity is clear from four Bible appellations 
which are given him. He is called "the devil," 
"the dragon," "the old serpent," and "Satan." 
Furthermore, he is "laid hold of . " The Greek is 
"ekratesen." The same word is used in reference 
to the mob seizing our Saviour (Matt. 26:50), and 



A Study of the Millennium. 121 

to the soldiers of Herod capturing John the Bap- 
tist when he was imprisoned. Just as John was 
seized, or "laid hold of," by the soldiers of Herod, 
and Jesus by the mob, so shall our arch-enemy be 
captured by the mighty angel, (c) Furthermore, 
he is imprisoned, and locked up under a seal, which 
shall not be broken for a thousand years. Let the 
reader observe the following five things. We have 
in this picture, (1) "an angel" from heaven; (2) "the 
dragon" from the deep; (3) his capture and bind- 
ing; (4) his incarceration, i.e., his being cast into 
the abyss, and (5) a seal being placed upon him for 
a thousand years. Do you see anything in this 
picture that represents a gradual spread of the 
gospel? Does it portray a simple spiritual influ- 
ence spreading among men? If so, language is 
meaningless, Revelation is an uncertain writing, 
and we had as well wipe out the Bible and quit. 

(d) The prophet further reveals to us an army of 
saints; many of them had been martyrs for Jesus, 
none of them had received "the mark of the beast 
in their foreheads or in their hands." They are 
God's choice ones, who in times of wickedness and 
trouble have proven true, many of them sealing 
their testimony with their blood. They are such 
as had died, but lo, "they live" again. They are 
the subjects of the first resurrection, in contradis- 
tinction from those who, having been untrue to 
Christ, are left in their graves for a resurrection 
to Judgment at the end of the thousand years. 
(e) Not only are these saints and martyrs raised 
from the dead, but they are crowned (1 Pet. 5:4). 



122 The Renewed Earth. 

and placed upon thrones to reign with Him. (Matt. 
19:28; Rev. 3:21.) Their sorrows are ended, the 
days of their humiliation are numbered, the crown- 
ing time has come, and those who have suffered 
for Him now reign with Him, who is their Saviour 
and Lord. Where do they reign? Some men an- 
swer, "In heaven. " Folly! Where was the Anti- 
Christ's field of operation, he who had just been 
cast into the lake of fire? Was he in heaven? Of 
course not. Where was Satan before his impris- 
onment? Was his field of operation the city of 
God? Certainly not. Now, is it not evident from 
the study of the text and its context that these 
saints occupy the territory from which Satan and 
his confederates have been evicted? Earth is the 
scene of all the conflicts in this hook. On its hills and 
in its valleys the armies of the contending factions 
have met, and now — let heaven and earth hear it! 
— the old enemy is cast out, and those who have 
suffered and died for Christ are raised with Him 
and crowned. Elsewhere, we hear them crying 
victoriously, "We shall reign on the earth." (Rey. 
5 :9, 10. ) Christ had promised that they should * -in- 
herit" it. (Matt. 5:5.) The Seer of Babylon had 
long since recorded the comforting words, "The 
time came that the saints possessed the kingdom." 
(Daniel 7:18.) To spiritualize away all these won- 
drous truths is inexcusable folly. It is a tamper- 
ing with God's Word that should not be tolerated 
among the lovers of Sacred Writ. 

So we see in the first glance at the Millennium 
that when it dawns a great thing happens. The 



A Study of the Millennium. 123 

world is for once rid of its ancient foe, of its worst 
enemy, of its corrupter; his murders and rapine, 
his falsehoods and infernal machinations have bur- 
dened and cursed it through six thousand years of 
anguish and pain, but now, thank God! we find 
him cast out, and the saints who have fallen vic- 
tims to his trickery are raised to thrones of power, 
of authority and dominion. 

2. Anti-Christ is overthrown. "Anti" means 
against. Hence the Anti- Christ is one who is an 
opponent, a hater and traducer of Christ and His 
work. He is called, like Judas Iscariot, "the man 
of sin, the son of perdition. " He is named elsewhere 
"the beast," and is found to be in close touch and 
deathless sympathy with the dragon, from whom 
he receives his power. (See Rev. 13; 2 Thess. 2.) 
He even receives the power and authority of the 
devil, until his word becomes law and the slain 
under his law are many. At present the Anti- 
Christ is the spirit of evil abroad in the world. It 
is, no doubt, ensconced in the apostate churches of 
Christendom, chiefly, doubtless, in Romanism. 
John said in his day that there were many Anti- 
christs. (1 John 2:18.) But in the end this infer- 
nal power will head up in some great personage, 
who will be manifest as a mighty ruler among the 
nations of earth. He will, it seems, be an incom- 
parable general, exceeding, no doubt, an Alex- 
ander, a Napoleon, or a Hannibal. As a king or 
emperor he rules with an iron hand — more terrible 
than a Nero, an Augustus Caesar or a Domitian. 
No earthly power can withstand this mighty king. 



124 The Renewed Earth. 

this conquering general, but when the King of 
kings rides forth from His Father's throne, con- 
quering and to conquer (Rev. 19:11-15), the Anti- 
Christ is destroyed "by the brightness of His ap- 
pearing." (2 Thess. 2:8.) He is even captured 
and cast alive into the lake of fire. (Rev. 19:20.) 

Will it not be a wonderful victory for God's 
saints, a great triumph for His truth and His king- 
dom in the earth, to have the world rid of the cor- 
rupting and awful presence of Satan himself, and of 
the beast, his chief ally? But this is pledged us in 
connection with the Millennial reign of our Lord. 

Those who portray a Millennium brought about 
by existing agencies alone come far short of the 
revealed Word of God. No mere preaching can 
bind Satan and shut him up in the pit, or consume 
the man of sin, but these things are pledged us in 
Holy Writ as sure facts, and they are to take place 
before the personal reign of Jesus as "the Son of 
man" on earth. It will be a great advantage, and 
one that should undoubtedly be appreciated by 
such as have to contend with these infernal powers 
of wickedness and death. 

3. Corrupt law-makers and ivicked rulers are set 
aside. We are told in the book of Revelation that 
God shall "destroy them which destroy the earth." 
(Rev. 11:18.) It might be rendered that He shall 
bring to corruption those who corrupt the earth. 
We know that wicked rulers and perverse law- 
makers have been a menace to truth, a hindrance 
to the gospel, a source of boundless evil through 
all the ages of our suffering, fallen race. "Right- 



A Study of the Millennium. 125 

ousness exalteth a nation, but sin is a reproach to 
any people." (Prov. 14:34.) "When the wicked 
beareth rule, the people mourn." (Prov. 29:2.) 
When God would save Abraham and make a great 
people of him, he led him forth from his father's 
family. When He would establish the children of 
Israel in the land of Canaan He segregated them. 
He drew the lines between them and the surround- 
ing nations, and gave them just laws and righteous 
rulers. Only think of the vast difference in the 
moral conditions of a people when ruled by a 
Moses, a Joshua, a David or a Samuel on the one 
hand, or by an apostate Saul, a wicked Ahab or a 
debauched Jezebel on the other. Reader, have you 
ever noticed how frequently it is said of Jereboam 
that "he made Israel to sin"? It occurs often in 
the Bible. (1 Kings 15:30-34, etc.) The same is 
said of Manasseh. (2 Ki. 21:9-11.) Purity on the 
throne and in the halls of legislation tends strongly 
to individual and national uprightness. But corrup- 
tion in the halls of legislation and in the Executive 
Mansion or on the throne tends rapidly to national 
deterioration and general decay. During the Millen- 
nium Christ will be King over all the earth. 
(Zech. 14:9.) His saints shall rule the cities (Luke 
19:15-20), and judge the earth. (1 Cor. 6:2.) Jesus 
Himself shall be King, while His saints shall be 
the princes who administer His laws and execute 
His judgments. (Isa. 32:1.) 

How important all this is! Does it not frequently 
happen that a Governor's misconduct, a Presi- 
dent's immorality or a Mayor's debauchery spreads 



126 The Renewed Earth. 

drunkenness and revelling throughout a city, a 
state or even a nation? Men copy their rulers' 
doings, and ape the immoralities of their great 
ones; so that exalted wickedness eventuates in 
widespread debauchery and criminality. 

Who that has considered our economic conditions 
and difficulties but that has longed for godly legis- 
lators and Spirit-filled executives! Many of the 
laws on our statute books favor gambling, authorize 
that sum of villainies, the licensed liquor traffic, 
encourage Sabbath desecration and sometimes 
wink at dens of infamy, thus pandering to vice and 
immorality. When Jesus becomes earth's Sov- 
ereign, and His saints administer the affairs of 
nations under His benign direction, there will be 
no liquor traffic, no gambling dens, no licensed 
vices, or open and public transgressions. Every 
law will emanate from the Divine mind, while every 
act of administration will be under His own direc- 
tion. The kings will bow before Him, and every 
officer will attend to His just behests. (Psa. 
72:10,11.) 

Look at our own country, with its two hundred 
and forty thousand saloons. D. L. Colvin, Presi- 
dent of the Inter-Collegiate Prohibition Associa- 
tion, quotes D. L. Moody as saying, that among 
the many drunkards converted in his evangelistic 
labors, scarcely one-tenth remained true. Why? 
The infernal liquor traffic had set its open door in 
their pathway, and they fell. The same gentle- 
man is responsible for the statement that in the 
year 1902, there were 68,000 arrests in the State of 



A Study of the Millennium. 127 

Massachusetts for drunkenness alone, an average 
of one in forty to the entire population of the 
State. When Jesus comes and reigns in Millennial 
glory, there will be no saloons to undo and destroy 
the work of evangelism. There are 800,000 or 
more employes of our railroads and the United 
States mail service, we mean postal clerks running 
on trains. A large proportion of this vast army of 
men are required to labor on the Sabbath, a posi- 
tive violation of God's commandment, or forfeit 
their position, lose their salary, and, humanly 
speaking, subject themselves and their families to 
want. But there will be no Sunday trains or mails 
or newspapers in the Millennium. Then no 
preacher will disgrace his calling by patronizing 
these evils, for the preachers will be saved and the 
evils abolished. The Psalmist declares concerning 
this glorious period, "In His days the righteous 
shall flourish, and shall delight themselves in the 
abundance of peace." (Psa. 72:7.) Even now, of 
course, we have many righteous laws, and many 
noble, godly rulers. But how often their work is 
counteracted by their associates or successors in 
office. There will be none of this mixing of the 
good and evil in the Millennial legislative and ex- 
ecutive departments. "The kingdom shall not be 
left to other people." (Dan. 2:44.) "The saints 
shall judge the world." 

4. Wars shall end. Ever since Cain brutally mur- 
dered his brother the world has suffered from wars. 
There has been no century, perhaps, since the first 
pair forfeited the Edenic home that war has not 



128 The Renewed Earth. 

raged in some parts of the earth. Justify it as we 
may, extenuate its brutalities the best we can, 
war is still a cruel, bloody, devilish sort of thing. 
Reader, did you ever see or picture in your mind 
two armies of 100,000 men facing each other in 
deadly combat? Men are shot down by their fellow- 
men whom they never met before; limbs are torn 
off, brains are scattered, bodies are severed in two, 
blood pours forth like a river, groans and shrieks 
arise that would rend any heart not of stone, while 
thousands are carted away to be buried, many in 
unmarked, unfinished and unfurnished graves. 
The whole thing seems to be infernal in its origin 
and spirit, and usually in all its tendencies. Gen- 
eral Grant is quoted as saying, "I hate war.'* 
' 'War is the business of barbarians," is a terse say- 
ing attributed to Napoleon. Wellington is credited 
with the remark, "Men who have nice notions of 
religion have no business as soldiers." "All the 
devil there is in men comes out in war," says 
Hooker. "War is all hell," said General Sherman. 
One has suggested that every army should bear 
aloft the banner, "We are our nation's appointed 
murderers." 

I should like to secure statistics, as nearly cor- 
rect as could be compiled, showing the number of 
people who have been killed in the wars of the 
ages. The figures would astonish men. Millions 
upon millions have been rushed suddenly to Judg- 
ment, or, through slow death, occasioned by fear- 
ful wounds, have gone trembling into eternity, 
murdered by their fellowmen on the field of bat- 



A Study of the Millennium. 129 

tie. Some carry empty sleeves, or limbless panta- 
loons, for weary years. Mothers weep over the 
mutilation or death of their sons, wives for their 
husbands mourn, children sigh and weep, while 
baby cries for the return of the father who never 
comes again; bright-faced girls, amid commingled 
laughter and tears, bid their lovers adieu, to see 
them again no more; sorrow and want, anguish and 
desolation, broken family circles and impoverished 
homes, represent but a part of war's fearful and 
hellish doings. Who can tell the whole gory tale? 
War is certainly one of Satan's masterpieces. 
Army life breeds immoralities. It begets drunken- 
ness, laziness and debauchery; it inflames lust, 
hatred and violence. I demoralizes manhood, beg- 
gars womanhood and orphans childhood. The 
sighs that have resulted from war's murderous do- 
ings, if they could be concentrated, would create a 
cyclone, whose desolations would spread wreck and 
ruin for miles upon miles. 

Shall war never end? Not in this dispensation. 
Our Post-Millennial brethren may descant in their 
most optimistic vein and to their heart's satisfac- 
tion on "the triumphs of the gospel of peace." 
They may point to the suggestions of the Czar 
and glory over the organization of the Hague 
tribunal. I shall rejoice with them in every tri- 
umph of truth, in every victory of peace. Still, 
however much they all may prate about the 
spread of the gospel, the progress of inven- 
tions and the end of wars, their breath will bo 
wasted. The prophetic word is on record, show- 



130 The Renewed Earth. 

ing the continuance of wars to the end. Christ 
has spoken concerning this dispensation in no un- 
certain sound, ' 'Nation shall rise against nation, 
there shall be wars and rumors of wars." The 
book of Revelation, which deals with the present 
period, and especially with the time of its end, 
abounds in figures of war and desolation. Zech- 
ariah, in his prophecy, shows the nations gathered 
against Jerusalem for battle, as the beginning of 
the world-wide tribulation, which is the last event 
preceding the return of Christ in the clouds. 
(Zech. 14:1-5.) Israel's prophets have pictured the 
lengthening centuries, the past, present and future, 
of all earth's history. But in no instance have they 
portrayed a Millennium of world-wide peace, prior 
to the return of the conquering King. Jesus tells 
of the desolations of Jerusalem and says that her 
oppressions will not cease till the end of this age. 
(Luke 21:24.) I hate war. Few, if any, rejoice 
more than I at every indication of the spirit of 
peace and conciliation among the nations. Of 
course, in some instances, righteousness will pre- 
vail, arbitration will take the place of conflict, na- 
tions will play the man, rather than the brute, but 
this cannot, will not, become anything like univer- 
sal, or result in world-wide peace, till the Prince 
of peace, once rejected and crucified on this earth, 
returns as its rightful Sovereign and victorious 
Lord. Then will be fulfilled the beautiful predic- 
tion of the evangelical prophet: 



A Study of the Millennium. 131 

"And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the moun- 
tain of the Lord's house shall be established in the top of 
the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all 
nations shall flow unto it. 

"And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go 
Mp to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of 
Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in 
his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word 
of the Lord from Jerusalem. 

"And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke 
many people: and they shall beat their swords into plough- 
shares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not 
lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any 
more." (Tsa. 2:2-4.) 

When is this to be fulfilled? "In the last days. " 
It will come upon the world in a time when "Their 
land is full of silver and gold;" "their land also is 
full of idols; they worship the work of their own 
hands." And this is "the day of the Lord of 
Hosts." It is the time when "the lofty looks of 
man shall be humbled;" "and the haughtiness 
of men shall be made low: and the Lord alone shall 
be exalted in that day . " When is this? It is when 
men tremble "for fear of the Lord, and for the 
glory of His majesty, when he ariseth to shake 
terribly the earth." It will be "the day of the 
Lord's judgments." These extracts taken from 
this same chapter show that the prophecy is not 
fulfilled until the Lord comes in His majesty and 
glory. It is the day of His return, of the subju- 
gation of his enemies and the inauguration of His 
world-embracing empire. When He is Kiog of 
every land, when His sceptre sways the nations of 
the earth without a rival, then bloody wars shall 



132 The Renewed Earth. 

cease, and not until then. Earth does not- reach 
this period by gradual process, as the spread of 
the gospel, but by crises, by His coming to judg- 
ment, for it is then that He overthrows men's idols 
and reigns. 

But what else results from His reign? The pic- 
ture is full of encouragement. He judges among 
the nations, rebukes the people for their trans- 
gressions, and, under His direction, they beat their 
bloody swords into shining plow- shares and their 
murderous spears into pruning-hooks — or scythes— 
for harvests of plenty and peace. Then men gather 
at the house of God, walk in His paths, learn of 
His ways, and recognize the authority of His laws. 

That this is not before our Lord's return and 
personally - inaugurated Millennium is further 
shown by two facts in our text, (1) We learn the 
extent of this dominion of peace. ''Neither shall 
they learn war any more." It is not simply for a 
thousand years, but forever. The Millennium shall 
merge into the everlasting reign of righteousness. 
Of course, there will be a revolt against the gov- 
ernment of Christ, when Satan is released from 
his imprisonment, but it shall end in the utter over- 
throw and destruction of his entire army by fire 
from heaven, while the Divine kingdom continues. 
(Rev. 20:7-10.) (2) Restoration of the Jews. In 
Micah the same passage as that we have been 
studying from Isaiah occurs. Here we have a pic- 
ture of the re-gathering of Israel. God says, 'T 
will make her that halted a remnant, and her that 
was cast far off a strong nation; and the Lord shall 



A Study of the Millennium. 133 

reign over them in Mt. Zion from henceforth even for- 
ever. . . . The kingdom shall come to the daugh- 
ter of Jerusalem." (Mic. 4:6-8.) Now, we know 
that the gathering of the Jews is not till the re- 
turn of Jesus. (See Ezek. 36th and 37th chapters; 
Acts 15:14-17; Rom. 11:12-26.) Happy will be the 
day when this long-suffering, sin-cursed earth shall 
receive and crown her King, when, through His 
glorious majesty and power, Satan shall be cast 
into the pit, the Anti-Christ into the lake of fire, 
and the making and the administration of all earth's 
laws shall be in the hands of Christ and His own 
subordinates. Speed the day. 

II. Positive Results. 

In the preceding pages we have had for consid- 
eration the negative results, i. e., we have looked 
at some of the evils of which the world will be rid 
by the coming and kingdom of our Christ. The 
next question is, ' 'What positive results for good 
may we anticipate?" Will there be any definite 
lines of help afforded us, any advantages over the 
present state of things? Rev. Daniel Steele, a well- 
known Post-Millennial writer, says, "The present 
dispensation is the most favorable for the develop- 
ment of growth in virtue which this world will 
ever see .... the personal reign of Christ in 
bodily form on the earth .... will not afford the 
conditions requisite to a fair probation. " {"Antinom . 
Rev.," p. 200.) 

Opposing the idea of the personal return and 
reign of Christ on earth, Rev. Richard Abbey 



134 The Renewed Earth. 

says, "A Savior in some other position or re- 
lation (than in heaven where He now is) would 
be no Savior to us." As to the sufficiency of the 
Gospel to thoroughly renovate the world, he de- 
clares, "In form it is undeniably a complete sys- 
tem; and, supposing it to be Divine, it is infallibly 
arranged, and its end and office is the restoration 
of all this world to the love, obedience, and favor 
of God." "It is obviously, undeniably planned to 
work right here in this very social system as it 
exists and not in some other." "The relation, 
moral, social, intellectual and physical, between 
man and his Savior is exactly adjusted as things 
are shaped and agoing now." {Diuturnity, pp. 271, 
272.) These writers manifestly believe that the 
presence of Christ on the earth as the Son of man, 
in His Divine-human form, would be a disadvantage 
rather than a help to the world's spiritual progress. 
But such reasoning seems wide of the mark. If 
the presence of a good man in the community is a 
benediction, if a godly ruler is helpful to morality, 
why should not the personal presence and sov- 
ereignty of Christ be an incalculable blessing to 
this earth? What disadvantage can the beneficent 
and kingly presence of Jesus our Lord be to us in 
our efforts to uplift men? We are glad in naming 
the positive results for good during the Millen- 
nium, to put down, as the principal item, — 

1. The presence of Christ Himself with absolute 
poiver. There are to-day in the earth literally 
millions of idols. China's countless hordes, In- 
dia's teeming rabble, and the innumerable throngs 



A Study of the Millennium. 135 

of Africa, of Japan, of the islands of the sea, are 
worshipping their false gods, demons they are 
(1 Cor. 10:20), but when the Lord becomes "king 
over all the earth," * 'There shall be one Lord and 
His name one." (Zech. 14:9.) Every heathen 
abomination shall be overthrown, their false deities 
shall be discarded, their images and idols burned 
or broken (Ezek. 30:13; Isa. 2:20,21), and they shall 
submit themselves absolutely to the sovereignty 
and dominion of the Lord Jesus Christ. This oc- 
curs at His coming, "When He ariseth to shake 
terribly the earth." Then He shall have no rival 
gods with which to contend as to-day. Let it be 
also remembered that He shall demolish all god- 
less governments (Dan. 2:44; Isa, 60:12), annihilate 
all wicked customs, repeal all unrighteous statutes, 
and enforce, in His own name and authority, the 
laws of heaven for this earth. (Psa. 149:5-9.) Then 
shall we see the "day of the Son of man." (Luke 
17:22,24.) 

Has the reader ever known a farm held under a 
weak and incompetent administration, the houses 
going to wreck, the fences falling down, weeds over- 
running the crops, barns decaying, and the whole 
place presenting a picture of neglect? At length 
the farm is sold at half-price, and an experienced 
cultivator of the soil takes possession. A man of 
diligence, of experience and sagacity is at the helm ; 
the houses are repaired, the fences are restored, 
the barns are rebuilt, the gates are freshly hung-. 
the buildings receive a new coat of paint, ere the 
coming of spring the plows are turning the soil 



136 The Renewed Earth. 

from early morn till setting sun; and, indeed, on 
every hand may be seen evidences of business 
sagacity and activity. The plows subsoil the land, 
improved machinery is introduced, the sound of the 
hammer and saw are heard, everything becomes 
new. In the early spring crops are seen to be up 
and growing, no weeds are allowed a place; dili- 
gence combined with science, economy practiced 
with intelligence, make the entire property take on 
new life and thus quadruple its value. So will it 
be with the field of this world (Matt. 13:38) in the 
Millennium. 

This earth belongs to Jesus. By the sin of the 
first Adam man's lordship was lost, and the world, 
dilapidated, overgrown with weeds and briers, cor- 
rupted by pestilence and death, has presented a 
scene of indescribable desolation to the wondering 
gaze of spiritual intelligences from all worlds. 
But Christ has redeemed this earth, and pledges 
Himself to bring about its entire renovation and 
perfect reconstruction. Jesus' favorite name for 
Himself seemed to be the title ' 'the Son of man. " He 
thus enforces His claim to the lordship of this 
earth, which was forfeited by the first Adam. . . . 
He redeems and will rule it as the second Adam. 
(1 Cor. 15:21-28,45-49; Rev. 5:1-10.) The Millen- 
nium is the period for its purgation and restoration. 
The farm we have described is not entirely restored 
to its original beauty and fertility on the very day 
the new farmer arrives. The rehabilitation of the 
valued property requires time. But under the new 
management the work shall be perfectly and 



A Study of the Millennium. 137 

swiftly done. At the beginning of the Millennium 
Jesus comes to His farm, for this earth is His pos- 
session as the Son of man. He was born on it; as 
a babe He came to Bethlehem; on it He lived and 
suffered; its soil was baptized with His tears and 
His blood. In one of its tombs His precious body 
lay for three days. From its Mount of Ascension 
He returned for a time to His Father's palace, but 
ere long He shall come again to this earth, wed the 
bride of His choosing, and with her set up for 
house-keeping on earth's soil, made forever sacred 
by His tears, His blood, His entombment, His resur- 
rection and ascension. It is at present so dilap- 
idated that time will be required for its restoration 
to primeval purity and pristine fertility and glory. 
The Millennium is not the perfect kingdom and 
reign of Christ. It is simply the day of recon- 
struction. Figuratively speaking, it is house- 
painting, carpet-laying day. Then the earth shall 
be rejuvenated. Our Lord will give His personal 
attention and oversight to this work. His pres- 
ence will bring blessing, it will insure good service 
and accomplish the desired result. He shall gather 
and feed and gently lead His flock. (Isa. 40:11.) 
Men may preach as they wish about the glories of 
this age, but since God has declared that Satan is 
the prince of the world (John 14:30), and that the 
age is evil (Gal. 1:4), I for one look forward with 
joy to the time when He whose right it is shall 
take personal possession of this earth and rule with 
power. Then the scene will change, and God's 
glory shall fill the world. 



138 The Renewed Earth. 

2. Enthroned Martyrs. Besides the personal 
presence of Jesus, with all it means for righteous- 
ness, this world will see those who have been 
hitherto rejected by its rabble, seated upon its 
thrones (Luke 22:29, 30), they shall reign "with 
Him (Rev. 20:4) on the earth" (Rev. 5:10). They 
shall have authority, some over five cities, some 
over ten. (Luke 19:17-19.) We may rest assured 
their administrations will be characterized by in- 
flexible justice and unerring wisdom, for they serve 
under the direction of the King Himself. Then, 
injustice will give place to justice, the poor will 
be upheld, the weak will be defended, the innocent 
will be exonerated, the noble will be promoted, 
while the unholy and those ignorant of God and 
righteousness shall be abased; crime shall receive 
its just punishment, and sin its merited rebuke. 
(Psa. 45:5, 6; Prov. 29:2.) No judge can be bribed 
in thatday, no jury can be "packed." (1 Sam, 16:7.) 
No perjured witness shall pervert justice, no den 
of infamy, of lust or debauchery, shall receive 
encouragement then. (Isa. 2:11-19.) 

Even in past history some rulers have made for 
themselves names that are held in lasting remem- 
brance because of their probity of character and 
their worthy and impartial administrations. But, 
on the other hand, how often has the criminal gone 
free, while the innocent have suffered. How often 
has the saloonist piled up wealth, while the hum- 
ble, praying child of God has gone in rags and 
want. A Dives has been honored and promoted, 
praised and petted, while a godly Lazarus has bee a 



A Study of the Millennium. 139 

left in want at his gate. Not so during the Mil- 
lennium. The spirit of the times will favor justice, 
encourage benevolence, and promote holiness. 
When God ariseth to "judge the earth," the poor 
shall be defended, and justice shall be done to the 
afflicted and needy. (Psa. 82.) Paul asks, "Know 
ye not that the saints shall judge the world?" 
(1 Cor. 6:2.) What is to be understood by this 
judgment? It surely cannot mean the adjudications 
of the last day. Christ alone shall be upon that 
throne. (Act 17:31; Matt. 25:31, 32.) We get a 
glimpse of the meaning of this judgment when 
we survey Israel under a theocratic government. 
When Moses and Joshua, Samuel and Othniel, 
Deborah and Gideon judged Israel, the adminis- 
trations were righteous. In some such sense as 
this, the saints shall judge the world. The 
thought of judgment here evidently does not en- 
compass the eternal destinies of "that day" when 
the Great White Throne rolls into view. Concern- 
ing that day John says, "I saw a Great White 
Throne and Him that sat on it, from whose face 
the earth and the heavens fled away." (Rev. 20:11.) 
He does not speak here of seeing the faces of many 
saints, but simply of the face of "Him/" the Great 
Judge, from "whose" presence the earth fled. This 
judgment is in the hands of God alone. But the 
judgment concerning which Paul wrote is in the 
hands of many, i. e., of "the saints." Hence it 
must be a different judgment from that of the 
Great White Throne. 

Another point we must observe is that the saints 



140 The Renewed Earth. 

do not judge the earth in the present age, for it is 
"evil," (Gal. 1:4,) and Satan is the "prince," yea, 
"the god" of it. The "horn" prevails against the 
saints till the judgment. (Dan. 7:21, 22.) So they 
cannot judge, i. e., rule the world till this "horn," 
the Anti-Christ, is destroyed by Christ's parousia, 
which means His personal presence. (2 Thess. 
2:8.) From these considerations, the conclusion 
is inevitable that there is a time after this age, and 
before the judgment of the Great White Throne, 
when the saints shall "judge the earth." This 
time is the Millennium of which we write. While 
it is not the great, final judgment, that which set- 
tles the eternal destinies of men, it is, nevertheless, 
the "Judgment Day," as we show elsewhere. Will 
not that be a glorious time when all the affairs of 
earth shall be under the administration of Christ, 
and those holy ones who for love of Him have 
suffered martyrdom, or at least refused the honors 
and emoluments of earth? (John 5:44.) Is there 
no advantage in such administrations as this as 
compared with the times of injustice and oppres- 
sion through which the world has been wading these 
6,000 years. At present "the days are evil." (Eph. 
5:16.) For my part I shall make the most I can 
of the present state of things, but my heart 
would leap with joy to know that the Millennial 
era was ready to burst upon us, even in my life- 
time. 

HI. Millennial Salvation. 

Will the Gospel be preached and souls be saved 



A Study of the Millennium. 141 

during the Millennium? The Post-Millennialist, of 
course, says yes, because he believes in a Millen- 
nium brought about by the Gospel, thro' present 
agencies and without the personal, bodily presence 
of Jesus. He denies, however, that any one will be 
saved after the return of Christ, which he says is 
wholly beyond the Millennium. In fact, this is one 
of the great points of objection commonly urged by 
those of that school. They tell us that the coming 
of Christ is the Judgment, and that "When Jesus 
leaves the mediatorial throne" none will be saved. 
A great flourish of trumpets has been made at this 
point. To the writer there seems to be nothing in 
the position of our opponents. What scriptural 
foundation is there that at the return of Christ to 
the earth, He must forever abandon "the mediato- 
rial throne?" Is He not our mediator forever? 
Is not His office of priest held as mediator? Study 
the priesthood of Christ in Hebrews (7th chapter). 
There we find that it is as priest He saves us "to 
the uttermost," or evermore. And what is the limit 
of His priestly office? Listen! "Thou art a priest 
forever" (verses 17,21); as such He "is consecrated 
forevermore" (verse 28). Yea, He "hath an un- 
changeable priesthood . . seeing He ever liveth to 
make intercession for us" (verses 24,25). In the 
Psalms we see the priestly and kingly office beau- 
tifully blended. We read, "Thou art a priest for- 
ever," and this is immediately followed with, ''His 
right hand shall strike thro kings," and "He shall 
judge among the heathen." (Psa. 110:4-0.) Thus 
He rules as King and yet is "priest forever." 



142 The Renewed Earth. 

Where is there any "leaving of the mediatorial 
throne" in this? 

In fact, the prophet puts this question at rest in 
the following decisive language: 4 'He shall bear 
the glory, and shall sit and rule upon His throne; 
AND HE SHALL BE A PRIEST UPON HIS 
THRONE." (Zech. 6:13.) That it refers to Jesus 
is clear, (a) It is spoken concerning "The man 
whose name is THE BRANCH" (verse 12). (b) 
Christ only is our priest, (c) He only shall sit on 
the throne, (d) He alone "shall bear the glory." 
May not His blood be as efficacious after His return 
to earth as at present? Why may not the merits of 
Calvary avail then as well as now? It is the pur- 
pose of the priesthood to make atonement for sin 
(Heb. 7:27), and as Jesus has shed His blood once 
for all, and continues a priest forever, His atone- 
ment will avail for sinners as long as one can be 
found in need of it (1 Jno. 2:1,2), and then forever 
in the preservation of His own. 

But not only do our Post-Millennial brethren 
scout the idea of souls being saved after the return 
of Christ, but many who are preaching and teach- 
ing the near coming of Jesus agree with them that 
no one will be saved after our Lord's return to 
earth. They consider His second coming an end of 
probation, altho they are expecting Him constant- 
ly. How can such teachers reconcile the prophe- 
cies of the reign of Christ, and His glory filling the 
earth, with their doctrine concerning the imminence 
of the Judgment and the end of probation? How 
can they rejoice at the thought of His coming at 



A Study of the Millennium. 143 

any day or hour, when they believe it will 
out off all hope for the great bulk of the world 
— many of their kith and kin among them? It 
would seem that they play directly into the hands 
of those infidels who spurn God's mercy and love, 
on the ground that He has made a world, the bulk 
of which is going and shall go to the devil. That 
souls will be saved during the Millennium seems 
evident from the following considerations: 

1. Jesus takes charge of the world as He finds it 
at His coming. There remain ' 'nations, languages 
and peoples," who then become His subjects. 
These terms apply to the present order of things, 
and hence support the idea that Jesus will have 
charge of a world of people in the flesh. Now, in 
this condition, His subjects will be all saved, or all 
unsaved, or they will be in a mixed condition, some 
Christians, some sinners. If the population of the 
earth shall be ail unsaved, all sinners, it is evident 
that the reign will not be that of Christ, but of 
Satan. It would then be worse than it has ever 
been. Before the flood, there were a few faithful 
ones, such as Enoch, and Noah with his family. 
Sodom had its Lot, and Israel, in the dark days of 
her apostasy, enjoyed the faithful ministrations of 
Elijah, and, besides, there were seven thousand 
others who had not bowed the knee to Baal. Cer- 
tainly the world will not all be wicked during the 
Millennium. "No," says one, "the wicked will be 
all destroyed; the world will be saved and glorified 
during this time." This argument is, that all sin- 
ners will be destroyed by the great tribulation, and 



144 The Renewed Earth. 

only the godly be left. But this theory will 
not hold good, for the true saints are caught up by 
translation to meet the Lord in the air. They be- 
come the king-priests who reign with Jesus, and 
are the risen from among the holy dead, during the 
thousand years. But kings must have subjects. 
If the saints meet the Lord in the air as His king- 
priests, and the wicked are all destroyed, over 
whom will Christ and His glorified ones reign? 
Here are the rulers, but where are the subjects? 
Is it not evident that there will remain on the earth 
a class of people who are not ready for the trans- 
lation? Now, if these are all destroyed, so that 
the earth is depopulated, then its inhabitants will 
only be those who have met the Lord in the air 
during the Rapture, and there remain no human or 
mortal conditions. But the Scriptures are very 
abundant in their teachings to refute this idea, as 
will appear in the process of our argument. 

2. That there will be a mixed condition during 
the Millennium is evident from the following con- 
siderations: (a) Death will continue, although life 
will then be greatly lengthened — he who dies at one 
hundred being recognized as but a child. (Isa. 
65:20.) (b) There will be drouths and plagues. 
(Zech. 14:12-19.) (c) Christ will rule with a rod of 
iron, which implies the execution of judgments and 
the punishment of transgressions. (Ps. 2:8,9.) 
(d) Many will serve the Lord in that time hypocrit- 
ically, with a ' 'feigned obedience.'' (Psa. 18:44, 
margin. See, also, the marginal reading of Psa. 
66:3, and 81:15.) (e) Even the Millennium itself 

•10 



A Study of the Millennium. 145 

will terminate in a great apostasy. Now, it is evi- 
dent that those who apostatize are yet in the flesh. 
If they were sinners, living or dead, they could not 
apostatize, having nothing from which to fall. 
Were they disembodied saints or risen immortals, 
they surely would not fall away. To teach that the 
fall or apostasy is on the part of those who are 
among the immortal kings and priests in the Mil- 
lennial glory would smack strongly of second pro- 
bation, being the apostasy of those who had in life 
won their crowns, and it would thus blast our hopes 
of the sinless and blessed future, indicating great 
insecurity on the part of those who were, we 
thought, through with probation, and invulnerable 
to the attacks of the foe. From these considera- 
tions, it is manifest that the apostasy at the end of 
the Millennium is from the ranks of men who are 
yet in the flesh, subject to temptation and in need 
of saving grace. But surely God would not leave 
them in the world under such conditions, without 
supplying the grace demanded by their estate. 
Only saved people can fall. But these fall, there- 
fore they were saved. They are mortal, and so, 
unless they were more than a thousand years of 
age, they were born, raised and converted during 
the Millennium. 

3. The fact that men die as mentioned by Isaiah 
proves their mortality. But mortals need the 
grace of God. The passage under consideration 
reads thus: 

'•The child shall die an hundred years old; but the sinner 
being- an hundred years old shall be accursed.*' (Isa. 65:20. 



146 The Renewed Earth. 

That this scripture refers to the Millennium is 
evident, from the following considerations: (a) It 
cannot be this side of the Millennium, because of 
the great age to which people live. "The child 
shall die an hundred years old; but the sinner be- 
ing an hundred years old shall be accursed." No 
such age is reached now as to justify calling one 
who dies at a hundred years of age a mere "child." 
(b) It cannot refer to "the new earth," beyond the 
Millennium, for there shall then "be no more 
death." (Rev. 21:4.) "But," says one, "this is in 
the new earth, for God says in this chapter, 'Be- 
hold I create new heavens and a new earth.' " (Vs. 
17.) The meaning evidently is that the earth is in 
process of being made new, for when this glorious 
result is fully accomplished, death will terminate, 
being "swallowed up in victory." (1 Cor. 15:26,54.) 
That the time on which the prophet has his eye is 
during the Millennium is further evident by the 
fact that there are sinners as well as saints. Read 
the connection. (Isa. 65:20-25.) In the new earth 
there will be no sinners and no sin, no sickness and 
no death. But Isaiah tells us of the sinner's dying; 
that is, of his being "accursed" of God. 

That this reference is to a time when men are yet 
in the flesh is further evidenced by the fact that 
"they build houses and inhabit them, and plant 
vineyards and eat the fruit of them." (Vs. 22,23.) 
The immortals who are with Christ in the rapture 
and reign with Him during the Millennium will not 
need to build houses or plant vineyards. They 
will sit at the King's table, and be as exempt from 



A Study of the Millennium. 147 

these earthly toils an the angels of heaven. (See 
Luke 22:28-30.) But there will be men in the flesh 
who need the houses and the vineyards, and these 
stand in need of, and by grace obtain, salvation 
just as men in our dispensation. The passage un- 
der consideration also proves that some men will 
be lost. Else why should it be said that the "sin- 
ner shall be accursed" — at one hundred years of 
age? God gives him this long period in which to 
obtain salvation, and if divine grace is rejected, 
wrath is poured out upon him. Thus it is that the 
Son rules "with a rod of iron." 

There will be among the nations sinners who 
spurn God's commandments, and these are visited 
by the plagues. From them the rain is withheld, 
for it is a time when God judges the earth and re- 
bukes "many people." (Isa. 2:4; Zech. 14:18.) In 
those days righteousness will be rewarded and sin 
will be punished, but in order to do this, the law 
of the Lord must "go forth" among the people 
and His word must be proclaimed. (Isa. 2:2; Jer. 
31:34.) 

4. Tho Satan will be incarcerated, and so the 
world, being free from his pestiferous presence, 
will not fall into open vices, the crimes and trans- 
gressions that have disgraced it for so long, yet 
men will be carnal, they will be born subject to 
mortality, and with evil propensities, as at this 
day. Hence, while their outward conduct may be 
exemplary, as that of moralists in the present age, 
yet their professions of loyalty will, in many in- 
stances, be unreal, and their services will be of the 



148 The Renewed Earth. 

lip and not of the heart. (See Isa. 29:13; Ezek. 
33:31.) It is from this class that Satan gets his last 
following when he is "loosed for a little season. " 
Though they outwardly conform to the laws of the 
King, many of their hearts are far from Him, and 
they are ready to join in any rebellion which prom- 
ises them not simply greater liberty but more 
license. With such a condition of affairs, of course 
the Gospel must be proclaimed and as many as pos- 
sible of these unsaved ones be converted. The 
progress of the Gospel will be glorious, because 
there will be no personal devil at hand to hinder it. 

So there are sinners as well as saints during the 
Millennium. This being so, the Gospel will surely 
be preached, and Christians will make faithful 
effort to secure the salvation of all the sinners. 
However good a Christian may be, if he neglects 
the unsaved about him, the natural and inevitable 
result will be his own backsliding. Consequently, 
for their own salvation, the servants of the Lord 
must labor for the salvation of those out of the ark 
of safety. 

5. All sins forgiven, except blasphemy against 
the Ho"!y Ghost. There is an expression which 
fell from the lips of our Lord that seems to settle 
the matter under discussion. In speaking con- 
cerning the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, He 
uses this language: 

"Whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it 
shall be forgiven him; but whosoever speaketh against the 
Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this 
world, neither in the world to come." (Matt. 12:32.) 



A Study of the Millennium. 149 

The word rendered " world" here as in many 
other places, is "aionos" — "age" — thus clearly 
speaking of another and different age, which is to 
follow the one in which we now live. And so He 
speaks of a sin that will not be forgiven in the 
coming age. Is not the inference forced upon us 
that some sins will be forgiven in the "age to 
come?" How else can we understand the Master? 
We know He would not so much as hint a false- 
hood. But his words are certainly susceptible of 
an erroneous meaning if sins may not be forgiven 
in the coming age. To say that sins, even any or 
everjr kind, may be forgiven in this age, with one 
exception, but that it shall not be forgiven in this 
age, nor the next, certainly implies very strongly, 
that other sins will be forgiven in the next — just as 
they are in this. Paul speaks of saved men hav- 
ing tasted of "the powers of the world ('age') to 
come." (Heb. 6:5.) What they "taste" is con- 
scious salvation, and this is to characterize the 
* * world" — ' 'age' ' — to come. 

Now, what is the next "world" or age? It cer- 
tainly cannot mean heaven, for no sinners will enter 
there to be forgiven. Nor can it mean hell, for 
there is no pardon in "that lone world of dark de- 
spair." The language of our Lord and of Paul 
cannot refer to the Judgment of the Great White 
Throne. It is then too late to obtain a remission 
of sins. The adjudications of that day are final. 
the saved stand together upon His right hand, and 
and the lost are driven away from His left into outer 
darkness. If we make the word "world" here to 



150 The Renewed Earth. 

represent an intermediate state, then we fall of ne- 
cessity into the meshes of those who teach a 
second probation. Those who deny the continuance 
of Gospel grace and salvation during the Millen- 
nial era can only apply the teaching of the verses 
under consideration to the dogma of a second pro- 
bation. There is no escape from it. That there 
is forgiveness in the "world" or "age" to come is 
manifest. The only question is, does it refer to a 
salvation after death, a post-mortem redemption 
of the ungodly, who have wasted the opportuni- 
ties of this life, or does it teach the continuation 
of the world under gracious conditions through 
an age subsequent to our own — the Millennium?* 
There is no hint of a second probation so far as 
I have found in the Scriptures. The rich man 
(Luke 16) found no pardon. He woke up in an end- 
less hell, separated by an impassable gulf from 
Abraham and Lazarus. Those driven away from 
the presence of the Judge, (Matt. 25:41-46), find 
no offer of salvation, for they go out "into ever- 
lasting punishment." There is nothing of a second 
probation for the ungodly hinted in (Mark 9:43-45), 
which declares that "their worm dieth not, and the 

* Some may contend that Jesus spoke from the Jewish age, 
and consequently "the age to come" was the Christian,, 
in which we now live. But what of the language of him who 
wrote the Epistle to the Hebrews? It was written long after 
Pentecost, and speaks to us of the "powers of the coming 
age," which we "taste" in this. We taste salvation by the 
outpoured Spirit. So shall the inhabitants of the earth in 
"the age to come." 



A Study of the Millennium. 151 

fire is not quenched." It is not in Rev. 14:11, in 
which we learn that the ' 'smoke of their torment 
ascendeth up forever and ever. " Those who reject 
the doctrine of the forgiveness of sins in the Mil- 
lennium, must either concede a second probation 
by which men are saved in the world to come, in 
eternity, or find some way to break the force of the 
Master's own words, in which He speaks of for- 
giveness in the "age to come." That "age" is the 
correct word by which to translate aionos in this 
passage is borne out by practically all the critical 
authorities. See Rotherham, Hind's Interlinear; 
consult any Greek scholar or recent critical trans- 
lation. 

6. Salvation of the Jews. If we had no further 
proof, a study of the prophecies concerning Israel 
is sufficient to establish our proposition, at least so 
far as God's ancient people are concerned. We 
know that they are at present under a judicial 
blindness. The veil is yet on their hearts, (2 Cor. 
3:15, 16), but when they "turn to the Lord" it shall 
be "taken away." They are cut off from the root, 
but they shall be grafted in again, "when the full- 
ness of the Gentiles be come in, and so all Israel 
shall be saved." (See Roman 11:12-26.) They are 
at present "without a king, and without a sacri- 
fice," but in the latter days they shall return to the 
Lord and serve Him. (Hosea 3:4,5.) When Christ 
returns He shall build again the tabernacle of 
David, "that the residue of men might seek after 
the Lord." (Acts 15:14-17.) God has pledged 
Himself saying, "I will gather the remnant of my 



152 The Renewed Earth. 

flock out of all countries." And "I will set up 
shepherds over them which shall feed them," and 
He declares that a righteous Branch shall be 
King, and that He * 'shall reign and prosper, and 
shall execute Judgment and justice in the earth. " 
Then what shall be? 

Listen, "In His days Judah shall be saved and 
Israel shall dwell safely." (Jer. 23:3-6.) This has 
not yet been fulfilled, for Judah and Israel are scat- 
tered through the earth in unbelief, with a veil on 
their hearts, and the tabernacle of David is in ruins. 
These prophecies will not be fulfilled in our dis- 
pensation, for this blindness is on Israel yet, and 
Paul tells us that it shall continue, and Jesus noti- 
fies us that the city of Jerusalem shall be trodden 
down (both alike, the blindness and Jerusalem's 
oppression) "until the times of the Gentiles be ful- 
filled." (Rom. 11:25; Luke 21:24.) It cannot fol- 
low next after the Gentile times, and before the 
glorious coming of Christ, for the great tribulation 
comes in at that point, which is followed "imme- 
diately" by the appearing of Christ in the clouds. 
(See Luke 21:24-27, with Matt. 24:29-31.) This is 
the day of Satan, our Lord's "day" is coming. 
(Luke 17:24.) "In His day Judah shall be saved." 
Hence, the only possible chance for these prophe- 
cies to find their fulfillment lies beyond the com- 
ing of Christ in the clouds — and that brings us to 
the Millennium. Now, up till that point, the Jews 
are in unbelief, are unsaved, hence their salvation 
must be after our Lord's return. (See Ezek. 
36:16-29.) Here it is plainly declared that God 



A Study of the Millennium. 153 

gives them "a new heart and a new spirit," yea, 
that He puts His Spirit within them and saves 
them from their "uncleannesses." In their unbe- 
lief they have been scattered and accursed among 
the nations, but in their restoration and salvation 
they shall be made a blessing. It shall be even as 
life from among the dead. (Zech. 8:13; Rom. 
11:12-15.) But if God saves them after Jesus re- 
turns, will He not save others? If He puts His 
Spirit within them, will He refuse this blessing to 
the Gentiles? Certainly not. Their restoration 
"will be the riches of the world," and then "the 
residue of men may seek after the Lord." 

We have tried to be brief with this argument. 
For a further discussion of the Jews, see my book, 
"The Blessed Hope."* Does it not seem clear 

* Some apply all the prophecies concerning the salvation 
of Israel to the church, quoting Rom. 2:28,29. In reply, 
please observe the following: 

1. Israel abides many days without a king or sacrifice 
(Hos. 3:4) — but those who aro circumcised in heart and true 
Christians have Christ as both sacrifice and king. (1 Cor. 
5:7; Rev. 15:3.) 

2. Israel is in blindness (Rom. 11:25) — the spiritual people 
of God have their eyes opened. (Acts 26:18.) 

3. Israel has a veil over the heart — but we behold as in a 
glass the glory of the Lord. (2 Cor. 3:15-18.) 

4. Israel is scattered through the nations as a curse (Ezek. 
5:12-15)— the church is His body. (Eph. 5:30: Col. 1:18.) 

5. Israel " shall be saved" (Rom. 11:26) — the church is 
saved. (Acts 2:47, R. V.; 1 Cor. 1:18.) 

Much more could be added, but the position is so absurd 
we need not follow it further, as it would seem like the abuse 
of the dead. 



154 The Renewed Earth. 

from the Word of God, that the Millennium will 
witness a mixed condition of society, that there 
will be saints and sinners on the earth, and that 
salvation will flow on in currents of mighty power 
among men? We think the proof is sufficient, and 
here we rest our case. 

IV. Business Redeemed. (Isa. 65:21-23.) 

One of the chief effects of the fall of man is cov~ 
etousness, and the evils engendered by it. We 
have not only stealing, gambling, and those grosser 
forms of evil which grow out of the love of money 
and the perversion of business, but we have very 
much of refined stealing. The trouble is that men 
have sought to divorce religion from the affairs of 
every- day life. Many who claim to be pious and 
who are very devoted to their church and church- 
going are nevertheless strictly selfish in all their 
business matters. With them everything is made 
to bend to one point — gain. Now, this is not right. 
Through this form of selfishness it frequently 
happens that he who works the hardest has the 
least, while others live by their wits and pile up 
fortunes, aitho doing very little, if anything, to in- 
crease the world's wealth. 

Out of selfishness grows the liquor traffic, the 
gambling den, the race-course, the prize fight. By 
means of these men play the part of the leech or 
the vampire. They fatten to the bursting point on 
the hard-earnings of men, women, and children. 
One man becomes a multimillionaire, while those 
who serve him and whose toil builds his fortune 



A Study of the Millennium. 155 

live in rented houses, dress in coarse garments, eat 
scantily of plain food, and are frequently, in the 
end, objects of charity. A Rockefeller raises the 
price of oil sufficiently to grind a million a week 
from the masses, and then palliates his conscience 
by teaching a Sunday-school class, or making a 
contribution to a Chicago university. The question 
as to how Christ would conduct business is perhaps 
seldom raised by millionaires. The dollar is gen- 
erally more to them than His Spirit, His teachings 
or His example. Tho He was rich, yet for our 
sakes He became poor. (2 Cor. 8:9.) By precept 
and example He inculcated the marvelous truth 
that "it is more blessed to give than to receive." 
(Acts 20:35.) Men have invented many fictitious 
modes of interpreting His stunning reproof of 
worldliness, when He declared that it is as impos- 
sible for a rich man to enter heaven as for a camel 
to go through the eye of a needle. But penurious 
money-lovers will have no trouble in understand- 
ing this language in the day of Judgment. Nor 
does it matter whether their fortune is counted by 
the thousands or by the millions. The spirit of 
selfish greed, of grasping, hoarding, conscience- 
benumbing money- love will damn any man. Its 
victims to-day are to be found on every hand, from 
preachers in the pulpit, and deacons and high offi- 
cials in the pew, to the distiller, the wholesaler and 
retailer of liquid damnation. 

Many of our so-called converts are like unhatched 
chickens — they may have pipped the shell, but 
they have never yet broken through into freedom. 



156 The Renewed Earth. 

No man can love God and serve mammon. (Matt. 
6:24.) The type of religion that prays for the poor 
but neglects to feed and clothe them will not wear 
crowns in the day of our Lord's return. The heart- 
lessness of our country's coal-barons as exempli- 
fied in the transactions of the winter just passed 
(1902-3) climaxes all we have said or can say on 
this point. While robbing toiling men and help- 
less women and children at the one end of the line, 
they have been known to put such exhorbitant 
prices on the product of their mines as to freeze 
whole families at the other end of the line. 

For the sake of filling their treasure vaults these 
shylocks often bankrupt the slender purse, the 
five-bushel coal-bin, and the already impoverished 
cupboard and the cellar of the poor. A greedy 
landlord will evict a suffering and penniless tenant 
from a rickety shack, for no other purpose than to 
secure more money to loan at exorbitant interest, 
although he has thousands more than is needed for 
personal or family uses. Such heartlessness would 
put the devil to shame in decent company, and yet 
it may be found among men who pass for gentle- 
men in respectable quarters. Oftentimes it occu- 
pies a front pew in church. Shame! 

In the Millennium, thank God, there will be none 
of this. He who builds a house will occupy it; he 
will not be swindled out of it by the sharper. 
Those who plant vineyards will be allowed to eat 
the fruit thereof. (Amos 9:14.) Their hard earn- 
ings will not be wrenched from them by the con- 
scienceless greed of extortioners and swindlers. 



A Study of the Millennium. 157 

Christ and His faithful servants will administer the 
laws, regulate the wheels of justice, and judge the 
cause of the poor. (Isa. 11:3-5.) As it is now, the 
poor are often converted, but through oppression 
and injustice their faith is wrecked, their feelings 
outraged, their sense of justice trampled upon, 
and, as a result of it all, they forsake the church, 
neglect Christian duty and hopelessly backslide. 
4 'Hope deferred maketh the heart sick," is a true 
saying of the wise man. Perverted justice bank- 
rupts faith, and wrecks many of God's little ones. 
In the day of Christ's coming and Kingdom these 
things will be set right. It is a well-known fact 
that many clerks have lost positions because they 
would not falsify as to the value and as to the merit 
of goods. Railroad men have been forced to forfeit 
their positions or outrage their conscience by Sab- 
bath toil. In fact, in all the avenues of life greed 
may be found trampling on the right of innocent 
poverty to the subversion of faith, or the bitter im- 
poverishment of honest labor. Again, how often 
when a drunkard or gambler is converted, do we 
find our work undone by the devilish saloon or 
gambling den. When our Lord returns and reigns 
upon earth, none of these things will be in the way 
of Gospel progress and spiritual advancement. 
Men have much to say about the triumphs of the 
Gospel, and charge us with minifying it when we 
point to the appearing and reign of the Son of man 
as a need of the world. But what proof have they 
that there will be no Gospel then? They talk with 
much show of zeal and learning concerning the ad- 



158 The Renewed Earth. 

vantages of this dispensation because, forsooth, the 
Spirit is poured out upon the people. But who can 
point to any Scripture forbidding an expectation of 
the outpoured Spirit in the day of Millennial glory ? 
May we not possibly have the Gospel in its full- 
ness and the Spirit in His power then as well as 
now? Ah! says one, but Jesus told His disciples 
that it was expedient for Him to go away, else the 
Comforter would not come. Very well; but did He 
say that it was necessary for the Comforter to de- 
part that He might return? There might have 
been reasons why His presence should be demanded 
in heaven before the Spirit could undertake the 
work of this dispensation. But there is certainly 
no scriptural proof that the Divine Comforter will 
be taken from the earth at the return of Jesus. On 
the other hand, in the day of Israel's restoration, 
which we have shown cannot be till the time of our 
Lord's coming, God has plainly pledged to His 
people that He will put His Spirit within them. 
(Ezek. 36:26.) 

Now, will it not be a large advance over the 
present state of the race for Christ to occupy the 
throne of world-wide empire, for justice to be ad- 
ministered among all nations by Him and His rep- 
resentatives? Then injustice will be crushed by 
the power of earth's absolute Sovereign; then truth 
will be crowned, and righteousness enthroned: 
then honesty will be the rule, and charity will pre- 
vail, even in secular life; then Satan will be bound 
and sealed up in the abyss, and his mighty minions 
driven from this earth. In addition to all these ad- 



A Study of the Millennium. 159 

vantages, enforced by rigid and absolute justice, if 
we may yet have the Gospel in pentecostal power 
and the Spirit poured out upon men in double 
measure, will not the inhabitants of earth realize 
more of God's justice and love, more of His peace, 
purity and power than at any time since sin made 
its first inroads upon the race amid the the beautiful 
bowers of Eden? (Ezek. 36:33-38.) 

But men declare we minify the Gospel in placing 
such emphasis on the personal reign of Christ. 
They say, with much gusto, "The Gospel and the 
outpoured Spirit are all we need to take the world 
for Christ." Ah! then, my brother, why not go on 
and take it? He who tells the world just how to 
get rich should show the cash, and he who knows 
how to take the world for God ought to begin on 
his own nation, state, county, town or family. Ah! 
many who talk thus have unsaved ones under 
their own roof. And so will it be when Jesus 
comes. Fellow-plowmen, co-laborers at the mill, 
and even bed-fellows, will be separated, because 
one is living a holy life, and is consequently ready, 
but he could not "take the world," nor even his co- 
worker, or bed-mate. O, how my heart longs for 
His coming, whose return is the hope of a sin- 
blighted race. Then farm and factory, shop and 
store, mine and mill, will be labeled, "Holiness to 
the Lord." 

V. Longevity of the Race. 

Life will be greatly lengthened and there will be 
even a marvelous improvement in the soils aud sea- 



160 The Renewed Earth. 

sons of the earth. The average length of life has 
deteriorated wonderfully since the days of Methu- 
saleh. Prom the time when men lived more than 
nine centuries to that period in our history when 
the average life of the human family was only 
thirty-three to thirty-five years — for this short 
period was reached during the last century — the 
decline was marvelous. But already it seems that 
the bottom has been struck and the tendency in re- 
cent years is to longer life. The average is now 
reputed to be some three or four years greater than 
a half century agone. During the Millennium the 
years of the antediluvian patriarchs may again be 
restored to earth. What else can be the meaning 
of the prophet's declaration that "the child shall 
die an hundred years old?" Also of that further 
saying, "As the days of a tree are the days of my 
people?" This does not indicate that the earth has 
reached its Edenic restoration and that there shall 
be no more death, but it does point to a period of 
transition. It tells of a time in which the very 
climate of the earth, its seasons and material con- 
ditions shall be greatly altered. At that day he who 
reaches the century limit and dies is not looked 
upon as an old man, but rather as a child. Others 
about him may reach the second or third century 
mark, or perhaps go to five hundred, eight hundred 
or even nine hundred years. 

Given such conditions as this, added to world- 
wide justice and apostolic preaching, and these 
blended with Pentecostal power and the fullness of 
gospel light and the inexhaustible riches of heav- 



A Study of the Millennium. 161 

enly grace and of the Divine blessing, and the 
scene will be worthy the poet's richest lines and. 
the angels' closest attention. 

THE MILLENNIUM NOT EDENIC. 

From what has been said it will be seen that, as 
good as the Millennium may be, it is not the per- 
fect restoration of the earth; it does not result in 
Edenic conditions. Instead of being the perfect 
restoration which is promised in the Scriptures 
when the new earth supplants the old, this is, 
while much better than any of its predecessors 
since tfre fall, an imperfect dispensation. The fact 
is, it is the transition period. Far better than any 
preceding age or dispensation, it is, nevertheless^ 
much below the condition of earth when the work 
of restoration is complete. How do we know that 
during the Millennium the earth is not to be in its 
perfect state? There are several facts that prove it, 
most of which have been given in preceding pages. 
We need here to simply refer to them and draw our 
conclusions. In the New Earth there shall be no 
more death. (Rev. 21:4.) But in the Millennial 
period both saints and sinners will die. H<ife will 
be greatly lengthened, but death will not be totally 
abolished. (Isa. 65:20-24.) Again, in the New 
Earth there will be no more pain, no more crying, 
no more sorrow of any kind, for all these things 
are passed away. (Rev. 22:3, with 21:4.) Since 
that condition of things is found to not prevail in 
the Millennium, we are certain that it is not the 
time of the New Earth. 



162 The Renewed Earth. 

Yet again, there will be no feigned service of 
God in the New Earth, as in the Millennium. (Psa. 
18:44, margin.) Nor will there be plagues, nor 
drouths, nor other punishments for sin, as in the 
Millennium (Zech. 14:16:20) — for there will be no 
more sin. As there is to be no sin, so there will 
be none of its dreadful results. In the New Earth, 
all the results of the fall will be numbered among 
the things of the past. But in the Millennium sad 
reminders of the curse will linger. 

That the Millennium is a transition period is 
clearly shown in Rev. 19th and 20th chapters. 
That the thousand years is after the coming of 
Christ attended by the armies of heaven is mani- 
fest from the account in these two chapters. His 
coming is set forth in the 19th chapter, whereas the 
account of the Millennium is given in the 20th. 
This in turn is followed by the Judgment of the 
great white throne and the passing away of the old 
earth with its evil conditions, and then the 21st 
chapter brings upon the scene the New Earth, with 
the perfection of Eden. We will have occasion to 
study this more fully in another chapter. 

That the Millennium does not present the earth 
in its purified condition, but simply in its transition 
state, is shown by the ending of the Millennium. 
The thousand years end in the falling away, the 
war between the forces of Satan and the power of 
God. Christ and His army do not have to enter 
this fight, because the fires from above make short 
work of the allied armies of evil. There is no such 
falling away after the inauguration of the perfect 



A Study of the Millennium. 163 

state — after the renewal of the earth. From what 
has been set forth, we think it undeniably estab- 
lished that the Millennium is neither as bad as the 
present state of things, nor as good as the earth 
will enjoy beyond the Judgment when it is made 
new. We have said enough to establish this fact. 
Another phase of the Millennium which will per- 
haps astonish some people will engage our atten- 
tion in the next chapter. 



164 The Renewed Earth. 



CHAPTER VIL 

The Millennium— A Phase of the 
Judgment 



We believe the thought expressed in the above 
caption contains the solution of the difficulties of 
many people with this subject. A goodly number 
of writers and preachers base their opposition to 
the Pre-Millennial view of the advent on the propo- 
sition that the coming of Christ introduces the 
Judgment. They suppose that this utterly over- 
throws the thought of a Millennium after His re- 
turn. Bro. Cary, after quoting 2 Tim. 4:1, says, 
"Here we are taught that 'at the appearing' of 
Christ, then will He judge the 'quick and the dead,' 
and not a thousand years afterwards. Paul is un- 
doubtedly connecting the two events closely re- 
lated with reference to time, viz. : the coming of 
Christ and the Judgment day, events which will 
occur simultaneously, and in no possible way can we 
infer from the passage a long interval between 
Christ's second appearing and the Judgment of 
the living and the dead. It would be to put into 
Paul's mouth what was not there, and would cre- 
ate confusion. " (Sec. Com. of Christ, p. 49.) 

Perhaps no intelligent Pre-Millennialist would 
deny that the Judgment begins at the coming of 
Jesus. That is a plain, scriptural truth. The 



The Millennium — Phase of the Judgment. 165 

trouble with Bro. C. and others like him is, that 
they err in their view of the Judgment. Such men 
take it for granted that the Judgment involves 
necessarily and only the final adjudication of char- 
acter — that upon which hinges, immediately and 
unalterably, eternal destiny. They treat the whole 
question as though it were a settled fact that the 
entire Judgment was a transaction begun and com- 
pleted in a few hours' time. We believe this a se- 
rious mistake, and a fruitful source of error. 

A careful study of the Bible, comparing Scrip- 
ture with Scripture, will reveal many phases of 
judgment. Paul declares that the Lord Jesus 
Christ shall judge the quick and the dead at His 
appearing and His kingdom. (2 Tim. 4:1.) This 
settles the fact, that the Judgment begins at the 
coming of Jesus Christ. It as clearly settles an- 
other fact, viz., that His kingdom, also, is inaugu- 
rated at this time. It is at His appearing that 
the Judgment begins with the quick, not the dead 
— their judgment is later. The kingdom also be- 
gins simultaneously with His appearing, and His 
judgment is that of a King. The Revised Version 
reads: "I charge thee in the sight of God and of 
Christ Jesus, who shall judge the quick and the 
dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom, 
preach the Word." The chief difference here is 
in the use of "by," instead of "at." It is by the 
authority of the kingdom, which He inaugurates 
at His appearing, that He judges. Rotherhaui 
renders the passage, "I adjure thee before God 
and Christ. Jesus, who is about to be judging living 



166 The Renewed Earth. 

and dead — both as to His forth- shining and His 
kingdom, proclaim the Word." The significance 
of this translation is clear, in that it shows the 
subject of our preaching, that we are to proclaim 
the word concerning the coming and the kingdom 
of our Lord. 

The Hinds-Noble Interlinear New Testament, if 
we combine the body of the text with the marginal 
note, gives us this, "Earnestly testify before God 
and Jesus Christ, who is about to judge the living 
and the dead, and by His appearing and kingdom 
proclaim the Word." This translation would seem 
to involve the idea that Christ when He appears to 
judge the quick, i. e., the living, will set up His 
kingdom and through it proclaim His Word. Now, 
the argument of our opponents, that the Judgment 
of the living and of the dead is to be simultaneous, 
is utterly foundationless. In this passage, and in 
every other where the Judgment is spoken of as 
being of "the quick and the dead," the quick or liv- 
ing are always described as being judged first. I 
mean to say that the order in which the matter is 
stated is never "the dead and the living," but al- 
ways "the living and the dead." Now, if the judg- 
ment of the living should involve a period of one 
thousand years, and this should be followed by the 
judgment of the dead, separate and apart from that 
of the living, it would fit exactly into the scheme of 
interpretation we have adopted, and this is just 
what the Bible teaches. In the 20th chapter of 
Revelation, the one thousand years are devoted to 
the judgment of the living, and when at the expira- 



The Millennium — Phase of the Judgment. 167 

tion of the ten centuries the dead are judged, none 
of the quick appear among them. Study the chap- 
ter, reader, and see for yourself. 

So the idea of what is called "the general Judg- 
ment, " in which the living and the dead are mixed up 
indiscriminately, in a final judgment, has no author- 
ity in the Word of God. They are not to be judged 
jointly, but separately. The judgment of the liv- 
ing begins immediately at the appearing of Christ. 
It occupies a thousand years (2 Pet. 3:8), and when 
it is ended, and Satan, being loosed, inspires a 
great apostasy, he is cast into the lake of fire and 
the dead of all ages are brought before God. We 
nowhere find the order we have set forth reversed. 
This is not accidental. It is the Word of God, and 
presents the order of the judgment according to 
divine arrangement. Peter at the house of Cor- 
nelius said of Christ Jesus, "It is He which was 
ordained of God to be the Judge the of quick and 
dead." (Acts 10:42.) (See also 1 Pet. 4:5.) 

Now, the judgment of the quick, or living, while 
it will be inaugurated by the terrors of the great 
tribulation (Rev. 6:17), yet will shade off into a 
period of Gospel light and abounding mercy, which 
will bring about the golden age of the world. Ac- 
cordingly, in the Psalms, we read, "Let the heav- 
ens rejoice and let the earth be glad .... before 
the Lord: for He cometh to judge the earth: He 
shall judge the world with righteousness and the 
people with His truth." (Ps. 96:11 13.) This is a 
coming of the Lord and it is a coming to judgment. 
a judgment for the enthronement of righteousness 



1 68 The Renewed Earth. 

and the vindication of His truth, for the overthrow 
of the blight and the curse that has long rested 
upon earth, and, consequently, it is an occasion for 
rejoicing in heaven and on earth. Again we read, 
"Make a joyful noise before the Lord your King, 
.... let the floods clap their hands, let the hills be 
joyful together before the Lord: for He cometh to 
judge the earth; with righteousness shall he judge 
the world, and the people with equity." (Ps. 
98:6-9.) This is the judgment. God is on His 
throne and the earth is involved, but it is not that 
fearful, final, white throne-Judgment, from which 
souls are turned away into the lake of fire. Dur- 
ing the Millennium men will die, and if in their 
sins, they will appear in the judgment of the great 
white throne after the Millennium. 

The judgment of the living is the adjustment of 
the earth and its inhabitants to the law and will of 
God. Those who prove permanently true to Him 
at the close of the Millennial judgment form the 
nucleus of the continued population of the earth in 
its renewed condition. 

These passages taken from the Psalms do not 
portray the destruction of the earth and the eter- 
nal doom of all the unsaved. On the other hand, 
they indicate a judgment mingled with mercy, a 
time of purification of the earth, of lifting the 
curse, of vindicating the wrongs of His people, of 
crushing evil and establishing righteousness among 
the nations. And this is exactly the plan and pur- 
pose of the Millennium. It is a mingling of Gospel 
truth and privilege with fiery judgment. While 



The Millennium — Phase of the Judgment. 169 

the wrath of God is fearfully displayed against sin 
in the great tribulation, yet His matchless love is 
portrayed in the restoration of Israel, and in the 
salvation of "the residue of men." (Acts 15:17.) 

We all know that there is to be a gathering of all 
nations (Matt. 25:31-46), and a Great White Throne 
Judgment (Rev. 20), which seals destiny. But that 
is for the dead only. The judgment of "the quick," 
the living, is past ere that begins. Then is it not 
true that many men are in error on the subject of 
the Judgment? Did not God Almighty judge Israel 
in the days of Moses and during the Theocracy 
that followed? Does not judgment, indeed, carry 
with it the idea of rulership? May not Judgment 
on earth and in heaven be mingled with mercy? 
Jesus speaks of sending forth "judgment unto 
victory." (Matt. 12:20.) This doubtless shows 
that He will bring victory to His truth through the 
judgment of the living. We know that Moses, as 
Jehovah's representative, vicegerent, if you 
please, administered justice and judgment over 
God's ancient people. We see also that he had suc- 
cessors in office, as Joshua, Othniel, Samson, 
Samuel and others. Might not this Theocratic 
government of Israel reveal to us somewhat of the 
Millennial day method or thought of judgment, 
i. e., the judgment of the quick? — the dead being- 
judged at the end of the thousand years. Remember 
that the judgment is in two stages — first, that of 
the "quick," that is, the living. This seems from 
a study of Scripture to be wholly distinct from the 
judgment of the dead. 



170 The Renewed Earth. 

In the Psalms we have quoted this judgment is 
for the earth and the people, and it involves the ad- 
ministrations of justice and truth among men, over 
which all creation, animate and inanimate, is ex- 
horted to give praise. The picture is a lively on.e, 
the Psalmist exhorts the people to "sing unto the 
Lord with the harp," "to make a joyful noise unto 
Him," "to rejoice and sing praises." He even bids 
the sea roar, and the field be joyful, and exhorts 
the "trees of the woods" to rejoice, and why? Be- 
cause "He cometh to judge the earth." Where is 
the destructive, fiery, wrathful judgment in this, 
so dominant in the minds of our Post-Millennial 
brethren? There is a great judgment that is final,, 
and upon which eternal destiny hinges, but this is 
not it — that is the judgment of the dead, this of 
the living. 

The judgment of the quick is begun by the ter- 
rors of the great tribulation, and fearful will it be. 
But it is not the time of driving the wicked forth 
into the lake of fire. In the judgment of the living 
nations the saints of God participate. Jesus said 
to His disciples, "When the Son of man shall sit 
on the throne of His glory, ye also shall sit upon 
twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of 
Israel." . . Now, the disciples of that day were 
all Jews, but this passage does not commit the 
judgment of all nations to the twelve apostles. 
Other nations are to be judged as well as the twelve 
tribes of Israel, and other saints are to take part 
in the judgment of those nations. Paul, writing 
to the Corinthians, who were converts from heath- 



The Millennium — Phase of the Judgment. 171 

enism, forbids them going to law one with another, 
and why? With what argument does he enforce 
his prohibition? "Do ye not know that the saints 
shall judge the world?" says he. (1 Cor. 6:2.) So, 
while the twelve tribes of Israel seem to be as- 
signed to the judgship of the twelve apostles, this 
is not all, for St. Paul informs these Gentile con- 
verts that they may have part in the judging of 
the nations which constitute the world. Daniel, in 
his picture of the kingly advent of our Lord, points 
to the days of the ten kings, when the Lord God 
of heaven shall set up His kingdom, and declares 
"it shall not be left to other people." (2:44.) 
Again, he tells us, "The time came when the 
saints possessed the kingdom." (7:18.) Now, we 
know that a king exercises judgment with au- 
thority, for, indeed, kings are the heads of nations. 
The saints are supposed to execute judgment in the 
name of God among the nations. Their judgment 
will be of an executive character, of course; they 
will settle differences among men, will vindicate 
truth and righteousness, assess penalties against 
transgressors, and, in every way, administer the 
affairs of God's kingdom on earth during the Mil- 
lennium. 

But who are they to whom such authority is 
given? They are the tested and tried servants of 
God, those who have proven faithful, having used 
their talents well, as faithful servants, in the ab- 
sence of their Lord. These are appointed by- Him, 
earth's true and rightful Sovereign, over cities, ac- 
cording to their capacity. (Luke 19:12-20.) They 



172 The Renewed Earth. 

have had their season of trial and persecu- 
tion, their faith has been tested like that of Abra- 
ham, their courage like that of Daniel and the 
three Hebrew children, their fidelity like that of 
Joseph and Paul, more even than these ancient 
worthies have many of His saints suffered, for a 
large contingent of these ruling ones have been 
martyrs. (Rev. 20:4.) Indeed, the King James 
translation leaves the impression that all those de- 
scribed here as having been raised to thrones, and 
to whom Judgment is given, were martyrs. The 
language is, "I saw the souls of them who were 
beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the 
word of God, and which had not worshiped the 
beast, neither his image, neither had received his 
mark in their foreheads, nor in their hands; and 
they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand 
years." Now, there is nothing to indicate distinct- 
ly in this translation that any lived beside martyrs, 
but the Revised Version says, "I saw the souls of 
them that had been beheaded for the testimony of 
Jesus, and for the word of God, and such as wor- 
shiped not the beast." Hinds' Interlinear men- 
tions the martyrs, and adds, "And those who did 
not do homage to the beast." The same thought 
is borne out by Rotherham, his wording being 
about the same as the Revised Version. From all 
this, it is plain that those participating in the first 
resurrection are martyrs and such as are true to 
God in every trial. They are, therefore, the test- 
ed and seasoned ones 3 and are, as a consequence, 
worthy of executing judgment upon the earth. 



The Millennium — Phase of the Judgment. 173 

In fact, this seems to be God's plan. He judges 
the world by.the "man" Christ Jesus. (Acts 17:31.) 
And this, ' 'the Captain of our salvation was made 
perfect through sufferings." (Heb. 2:10.) Now 
we know that Christ is the Judge of the world as 
* 'the Son of man." And we also find associated 
with Him for the judgment of the living nations 
those faithful ones who have themselves undergone 
suffering for His name's sake. 

But a yet more conclusive argument is to be 
found in the fact that all the dead are judged of 
God Himself. This, of course, will not exclude 
Jesus, for He is God, as well as man, and all judg- 
ment is committed unto Him. But the judgment 
of the dead is not in the hands of any man or set 
of men, as such. St. John declares, "I saw,a great 
white throne, and Him that sat on it, . . . and I 
saw the dead, small and great, stand before God, 
. . . and the dead were judged out of those things 
which were written in the books, ... and the sea 
gave up the dead, . . . and death and Hades de- 
livered up the dead, . . . and they were judged 
every one according to their works." (Rev. 
20:11-15.) Now, this is the judgment of the Great 
White Throne, and is beyond the thousand years. 
ONLY THE DEAD ARE IN IT. In verse 4 of 
this chapter, "judgment" is given unto the saints, 
who are raised from the dead, but their authority 
extends simply through the thousand years, and is 
limited to the living. They are over the nations in 
the flesh, as is shown by the fact that many of 
those whom they have judged, during the time of 



174 The Renewed Earth. 

their authority upon the earth, fall away in the 
great final apostasy at the end of their regency. 
The great apostasy is after their judgment, being 
at the close of the thousand years. The first- 
resurrection saints cannot be in the throngs that 
appear in the judgment of the Great White Throne, 
for they were not ''dead," but living, at the time it 
is inaugurated. 

The judgment of the great white throne reveals 
the following facts, (1) God only is on the throne, 
the dead small and great stand before Him, it is 
from His face the earth and heavens flee away. No 
apostles or martyrs on this throne. (2) Those 
judged are the dead. They come in teeming mul- 
titude from their graves in the lonely places of 
earth, from the crowded cemeteries in the popu- 
lous cities, from the mighty depths of the great 
sea, from the unseen regions of Hades, the place of 
departed spirits, from everywhere and everything 
that could hold a disembodied soul, they come 
forth, restored to their bodies, and stand before 
God, yes, before God alone, in judgment. The 
scene is an awful one, the king from his throne 
stands trembling as a culprit before his Judge, the 
president from the White House, the governor 
from the mansion, the banker from his counting- 
room, the miner from his coal pit or other min- 
eral vein, the manufacturer and his employes, 
the mill-wright, the carpenter and the builder, 
the laboring man and the capitalist, the merchant 
and his book-keeper side by side, the father 
and his offspring, the mother and her children, 



The Millennium — Phase of the Judgment. 175 

the employer and his employes, the gambler 
and he whom he wrecked by his arts, the sa- 
loonist and his drunkards, the liar and the slan- 
dered one, the murderer and his victim, the seducer 
and the seduced, the preacher and his congrega- 
tion, the educated and the illiterate, the black man 
and the white, the red man of America and the 
tawny-skinned children of Asia — from every lan- 
guage, from every nationality, from every age and 
race these teeming millions come and stand before 
their Judge ; but they have every one passed through 
the portals of the grave; the living nations are not 
here, their time of judgment has already passed as 
living ones; they were in the judgment of "the 
quick," which is always in the Scripture given as 
coming before that of "the dead." 

"But," says one, "what class of people will 
stand in this judgment? The holy, or the wicked, 
the saved, or the unsaved?" All classes, save only 
those who had died previous to the beginning of the 
Millennium, and whose saintliness of character had 
won for them a part in the first resurrection, or, if 
living at the advent of Christ, in the translation of 
that day. These are not in this judgment; they 
met the Lord in the air at the time of His appear- 
ing (1 Thess. 4:16,17), and were judged of Him ac- 
cording to their works, receiving their rewards. 
(Rev. 22:12.) When the Nobleman returns, having 
received the kingdom, he first calls unto him his 
own servants, judges them and assigns them their 
positions of rulership in his kingdom, one over 
five, another over ten cities. So these saints have 



176 The Renewed Earth. 

been on their thrones during the thousand years, 
adjudicating the affairs of the nations. But it is 
probable that not all of God's people who lived and 
died prior to the return of our Lord will have 
proven themselves worthy of a part in the first 
resurrection. Of course we cannot dogmatize at 
this point, but we know that Paul strove "if by any 
means'' he might attain unto this resurrection 
"which is out from among the dead." (Phil. 3:11.) 
(See Greek and any of the critical translations.) Is 
it not manifest from this saying of Paul that those 
who make no special effort will not share in this 
resurrection to peculiar honor and glory? If this 
great apostle felt the need of diligent striving that 
he might be a partaker in this glorious privilege, 
have the reader and the writer no cause to be 
aroused lest we fail of admittance to the marriage 
of the Lamb? "Blessed are they which are called." 
(Rev. 9:9.) Prom all this it would appear that 
there may be many good people who will not be 
counted worthy of a part in the first resurrection 
and of the consequent reign of Jesus over the na- 
tions during the one thousand years. Now all the 
dead who are not in the first resurrection will 
appear in the Judgment of the great white 
throne, including the wicked of all ages, 
and such low-grade Christians as were not in 
the first resurrection; and besides these there 
will be in this great assize all who shall have 
died during the Millennial era, both holy and un- 
holy. We have shown that death continues through 
this time, not only among sinners, but also among 



The Millennium — Phase of the Judgment. 177 

the godly. (Isa. 65:20.) Hence there will be a di- 
vision on this day, some being placed to the right 
hand because they love God and have served Him 
— these will hear that thrilling word, "Come, ye 
Blessed of my Father;" others having sinned 
against light and knowledge, having spurned God's 
grace and despised His law, having rejected His 
overtures of mercy and slighted the needs of His 
little ones, are classed as goats, drawn up at His 
left hand and driven out into the shades of an eter- 
nal night, into the fires of a never-ending hell. 

From what we have written it will be seen that 
the judgment of the great white throne, which oc- 
curs at the end of the thousand years, is that which 
is portrayed by the Master in the 25th chapter of 
Matthew. "But," says an objector, "this will 
never do, for that judgment as set forth by Christ 
occurs 'when' He comes." To be sure, the Judg- 
ment begins "when" He comes, but, as I have 
shown, the first phase of it is occupied with "the 
quick," i. e., the living nations. At His appear- 
ing He will judge the "quick and the dead." In 
the judgment of the "quick, "that is, the living, His 
saints, as we have shown, participate, and this is 
the Millennium. It is not that august tribunal 
known as the Judgment of the great white throne. 
In this judgment of the living, mercy tempers jus- 
tice, and Gospel mingles with law, but in the final 
and great assize God only is on the throne, the dead 
alone appear before Him, and judgment has no 
commingling of mercy unto salvation, but issues 
unalterably in "Come ye blessed," or "Depart ye 



ijB The Renewed Earth. 

cursed." The verdict of that day is final. It is all 
included in the Judgment, called by the Master the 
' 'last day, " but this is not a day of twenty-four hours. 
In fact, it is with reference to this that Peter says, 
"One day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and 
a thousand years as one day." (2 Pet. 3:8.) 

THE SUMMARY OF OUR ARGUMENT. 

We have endeavored to show that the Judgment 
begins at the coming of Christ, and that the Mil- 
lennium is simply a stage of it. At first we have 
the judgment of the living, termed in scripture 
"the quick." In this the saints participate, having 
been first raised themselves from the dead, or 
translated, and caught up to meet the Lord. Being 
prepared and appointed by Him, they judge, rule, 
control, direct, gospelize and instrumentally save 
or condemn the nations of the living. As Christ 
gave to Peter the keys of the kingdom, so to them. 
Rome prematurely sought to monopolize Millennial 
authority from a Post-Millennial standpoint. Be- 
ing the mother of Post-Millennialism, she seeks a 
combination of church and State in this "the times 
of the Gentiles." She is Post-Millennial to the 
core, and, accordingly, proposes the subjugation of 
the world before the return of Christ— a proposi- 
tion utterly void of Scripture warrant. In this she 
is followed by many who antagonize her at other 
points. That the Millennium is a part of the Judg- 
ment seems proven by the following facts: 

1. The Judgment begins at the coming of Jesus. 
{2 Thess. 1:7-10; 2 Tim. 4:1; Rev. 22:12; Matt.25:31.) 



The Millennium — Phase of the Judgment. 179 

2. But our Lord comes at the beginning of the 
thousand years. (Rev. 19:6-20, with 20:1-6.) (a) The 
present is the ''times of the Gentiles," not of the 
Millennium. (Rom. 11:25,26.) (b) This "age is 
evil" to its terminus. (Gal. 1:4.) (c) Satan is "the 
god" of the entire "age," not simply a part of it. 
(2 Cor. 4:4.) "He is the prince of the world. " (Jno. 
12:31.) (d) He is not cast out till the first resurrec- 
tion and the enthronement of the saints. (Rev. 
20:1,2.) (e) The antichrist is here now, and has 
been since the days apostolic (1 Jno. 2:18), and here 
he remains till the glorious appearing of Christ. 
(2 Thess. 2:8,9.) (f) Not only is antichrist here, 
but he makes war against the saints, and prevails 
against them till the Judgment sits. (Dan. 7:21,22.) 
(g) The beginning of the Millennium sees him cast 
into the lake of fire (Rev. 19:20), and that there 
can be no Millennium before his destruction is 
proven by his mighty power through all the world. 
(Rev. 13.) (h) The coming of the Son of man finds 
the world blind to its interests and in.a state like 
the antediluvian age. (Luke 17:26-30.) This evil 
condition prevails until the coming of the King 
(Luke 21:24-27), after which the kingdom is setup 
and the saints find their full redemption (verses 
28-31). 

3. The Judgment is given to the saints at the 
time of their resurrection. (Rev. 20:4.) They 
could not reign over the world before their resur- 
rection, as they were but spirits, and spirits cannot 
rule over men in the flesh. Their resurrection does 
not occur till the second coming. (1 Thess. 4:16- 



180 The Renewed Earth. 

18.) Hence their reign does not begin till then. 
(Matt. 19:28.) 

4. After the Millennium only the dead are judged. 
This is mentioned five times in one passage. (Rev. 
20:11-15.) God only is on the throne in that judg- 
ment, as the same Scripture shows. Manifestly 
the judgment in which the saints are allowed to 
take part is after the coming of Christ (Luke 
19:15-19), and before the Judgment of the Great 
White Throne — and this is the Millennium. Con- 
sequently it is a time in which men living in the 
flesh are judged, not for their final sentence, but 
for their improvement, their uplift, their gospel- 
ization. The Millennium is a part of the Judg- 
ment, and all the arguments made by Post-Millen- 
nialists to overthrow the Pre-Millennial view 
because, forsooth, the Judgment begins at the 
coming of Christ, are futile, and worse than wast- 
ed. It is the Judgment, but begins with the liv- 
ing, not the dead. 

AN OBJECTION ANSWERED. 

"But," says one, "this line of argument will en- 
courage men to live in sin, in the hope that they 
can be saved after Jesus comes." To this we re- 
ply: (a) It cannot possibly have such effect where 
the truth is intelligently presented. Only those 
will be saved who have not had and rejected gos- 
pel light. In the parable of the nobleman (Luke 
19), when he returned, his enemies who had resist- 
ed his rule were brought up and destroyed before 
him. But this certainly did not mean the destruc- 



The Millennium — Phase of the Judgment. 181 

tion of all the citizens of his kingdom, else he 
would have had none to reign over — it was the de- 
struction only of the bitter opponents of his reign, 
of those who fought and resisted his crowning, and 
kingdom. A large part of the world knows noth- 
ing of Jesus. The races, scattered through the 
heathen world, are utterly ignorant of His exist- 
ence, and so cannot possibly come under this head, 
(b) In Gospel lands, those who live below their 
privileges, and are thus classed with the foolish 
virgins, and fail of a part in the marriage supper 
of the Lamb and of an inheritance in the kingdom, 
may be saved during the tribulation times, but it 
will involve martyrdom in every case. What else 
can be the meaning of the statement in Revelation, 
where it is said concerning the beast, who spake 
as a dragon, that he had power to ' 'cause that as 
many as would not worship the image of the beast 
should be killed"? (13:15). Again, in the seventh 
chapter of Revelation, when John beheld the white- 
robed throng and wished to know whence they 
came, the answer was, "These are they which came 
out of the great tribulation, and have washed their 
robes and made them white in the blood of the 
Lamb." This does not refer to the common trib- 
ulations of life, but specifically to the great trib- 
ulation. The article does not appear in the King 
James translation, but is in the Revised Version, 
Rotherham, the Greek text, and every other trans- 
lation that I have examined. Few men would 
reject salvation to-day with the understanding that 
to-morrow it would cost them martyrdom, (c) Fur- 



1 82 The Renewed Earth. 

thermore, all who are not sanctified and fully pre- 
pared for the coming of Christ, while they may be 
saved afterward, will yet miss a share in the king- 
dom, forfeiting thus their part in the crowning 
which occurs at His coming. (1 Pet. 5:4.) (d) Fur- 
thermore, all the arguments that are commonly 
used by those who preach death rather than the 
coming of our Lord will still apply to such, even 
if they are not yet looking for Christ. They are 
liable to die at any time, and, being unprepared for 
His advent, will fail of a part in the first resurrec- 
tion. And, if they die in their sins they are hope- 
lessly lost. So this objection has no force what- 
ever. 



"This Same Jesus." 183 



CHAPTER VIII. 
This Same Jesus." 

(Acts 1:9-11.) 



In all these studies we should like the reader to 
bear in mind the two-fold nature of our Lord. He 
was "very God" and yet real man. Many titles are 
applied to Him in the Scriptures. He is called 
"Jesus," which is strictly His human name; 
"Christ," which means anointed and represents 
more directly His divine character. He is called 
the Son of God, the Messiah, the Redeemer, the 
Only-begotten Son, the King of the Jews, the 
Lord, and many other titles. It would be an inter- 
esting study to examine separately these different 
titles and the uses made of them in Scripture. We 
wish in this chapter to note especially the titles, 
"Jesus," "Christ," "Lord," and "Son of Man." 
That He is divine, anointed of God, is abundantly 
testified in the pages of Holy Writ. This is proven 
by- 

L The Confessions. 

These reach from the highest heavens to the 
fallen angels. His divinity is proclaimed, 
(a) By the Father. 

"And lo a voice from heaven, saying 1 , This is my beloved 
Son, in whom I am well pleased/' (Matt. 3:17.) (See Matt. 
17:5.) 



184 The Renewed Earth. 

(b) By the Spirit. 

u And the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a 
dove upon him, and a voice came from heaven, which said, 
Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased." (Luke 
3:22.) 

(c) By Himself. 

"Jesus heard that they had cast him out: and when he had 
found him, he said unto him, Dost thou believe on the Son 
of God? 

''He answered and said, Who is he, Lord, that I might be- 
lieve on him? 

"And Jesus said unto him, Thou hast both seen him, and 
it is he that talketh with thee." (John 9:35-37.) (See also 
Jno. 4:25,26, 10:30, and 14:9.) 

Some have admitted that Jesus was a good man, 
but have denied His divinity. This is folly; for He 
claimed to be divine, and one with God the Father, 
and authorized the use of His name jointly with 
the Father and the Holy Spirit in the baptismal 
formula. (Matt. 28:19,20.) Now, if His claims 
were not genuine, then He was either a base im- 
postor or a deluded lunatic. In either of the last- 
named cases He would be unworthy our respect and 
confidence. To confess Him a good man must 
force the recognition of His divine nature, which 
we have shown was testified by both the Father 
and the Spirit. 

(d) The angels also proclaimed Him divine. 

"And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy 
Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest 
shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which 
shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God." (Luke 
1:35. See Luke 2:9-11.) 



"This Same Jesus." 185 

(e) The disciples also confessed him. 

"And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, 
the Son of the living God. 

"And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, 
Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto 
thee, but ray Father which is in heaven." (Matt. 16:16,17.) 

(f) Other men also acknowledged Him divine. 

"Now when the centurion, and they that were with him, 
watching" Jesus, saw the earthquake, and those things that 
were done, they feared greatly, saying, Truly this was the 
Son of God." (Matt. 27:54. See Jno. 3:2 and Jno. 1:29.) 

(g) Even demons acknowledged His divinity. 

"When he saw Jesus, he cried out, and fell down before 
him, and with a loud voice said, What have I to do with 
thee, Jesus, thou Son of God most high? I beseech thee, 
torment me not." (Luke 8:28.) 

II. For Further Proof of His Divinity We 
Note His Works. 

"Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in 
me: or else believe me for the very works' sake." (Jno. 14:11.) 

His miracles were of various kinds. 

(a) On the bodies of men, in healing all manner 
of diseases. (Mark 1:34.) (b) On their minds, in 
the healing of lunatics. (Matt. 17:15,21.) (c) Pow- 
er over creation. This is illustrated by the calm- 
ing of the sea, walking on the waters, the multi- 
plying of food, etc. (d) Power over death — shown in 
the raising Lazarus (Jno. 11), the daughter of Jairus 
(Mark 5) and the son of the widow (Luke 7), and in 
the resurrection of His own body (Jno. 10:17,18; 
Matt. 28.) (e) Power over demons. (Matt, 12:28.) 



1 86 The Renewed Earth. 

Wherever the Christ went, after His open mani- 
festation at the wedding in Cana, He was contin- 
ually manifesting His power and setting the seal to 
His claims of divinity. We must recognize Him as 
indeed the Word, which was made flesh, and which 
was in ' 'the beginning, " and which * 'was with God, " 
and which indeed "was God." (Jno. 1:14.) 

BUT WE WISH ESPECIALLY TO NOTE THE HUMAN- 
ITY OF OUR LORD. 

(a) He was a child born of the virgin. (Luke 
2:12. See also Matt. 2.) (b) He grew hungry. 
(Matt. 4:2.) He became thirsty. (Jno. 4:7.) (c) He 
also grew tired. (Jno. 4:6.) (d) He was obedient to 
His parents. (Luke 2:51.) (e) He was a toiler, a 
hard-working man, a carpenter. (Mark 6:3.) (f) He 
died as a man dies (Jno. 19:30.) (g) He also rose 
from the dead. (Mark 16:6.) Many more refer- 
ences might be given in support of each of these 
propositions. Various other points might also be 
given, but we deem these sufficient. 

We wish now to call attention to the fact that His 
second coming is chiefly presented as the com- 
ing of 

-THE SON OF MAN." 

Daniel announced that in the visions of the night- 
time, he saw one coming in the clouds of heaven, 
"like the Son of man." There are many instances 
in which He speaks of His own coming, but, in 
every case, on investigation, it will be found that 
He announced His return under some title that 



"This Same Jesus." 187 

represents His humanity, such as "the bride- 
groom," "your Lord," but especially does He in 
this line of prophecies style Himself, "the Son of 
man." As a few illustrations, note the following: 
"The Son of man shall come in the glory of His 
Father with His angels." (Matt. 16:27.) "There 
be some standing here, which shall not taste of 
death till they see the Son of man coming in His 
kingdom." (Luke 9:27.) This was fulfilled in the 
transfiguration, which is described in the verses 
immediately following. "As the lightning cometh 
out of the east and shineth even unto the west, 
so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.' ? 
(Matt. 24:27.) "Then shall they see 'the sign 
of the Son of man in heaven .... and they 
shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of 
heaven with power and great glory." In this 
place His glory is as the lightning that shineth 
through the heavens, and His power as that of the 
omnipotent God, yet His title is that choicest of 
names with Him, "the Son of man." He tells us 
that as it was in the days of Noah and Lot, so shall 
it be at the coming of "the Son of God" — nay, "the 
Son of man." He bids us be ready at all times, "for 
in such an hour as ye think not, the Son of man 
cometh," and, for His return, He bids us constantly 
"watch." (Mark 13:33-37.) A remarkable instance 
of this may be found in connection with His trial. 
He was standing as though a defenseless culprit 
before the august tribunal of the High Priest, who 
earnestly questioned Him, "I adjure thee by the 
living God, that thou tell us whether thou be the 



1 88 The Renewed Earth. 

Christ, the Son of God." How did Jesus answer 
him, ;< Thou hast said," which is interpreted to 
mean, "I am, indeed." But notice the turn the 
Master gives it by immediately adding, * 'Neverthe- 
less I say unto you, Hereafter shall ye see the Son 
of man sitting on the right hand of power, and 
coming in the clouds of heaven." (Matt. 26:63, 64.) 
The High Priest was demanding a testimonial as 
to His divinity. Jesus gave it in the tersest manner, 
and forthwith pointed to His advent-glory, not as 
the Son of God, but as the Son of man. I do not 
believe there is an instance in which He points to 
His second coming under any other title than one 
which will apply to His proper humanity. 

We know that His name ' 'Jesus" was a purely 
human title. As a babe in arms and a growing 
child, his mother, relatives and neighbors called 
Him "Jesus." The term "Christ" applies more 
directly to His divine nature. It may not be always 
specifically so used in Scripture, but most com- 
monly it is. Even His enemies recognized His 
name as "Jesus," just as a man may now be called 
John, but they did not recognize Him as the Christ. 
John raised the question, as did the multitudes 
from time to time, "Art thou the Christ?" With 
these thoughts in mind we can readily understand 
many Scriptures that would otherwise perplex us, 
and may also discern the unsoundness of the teach- 
ings of certain men. They tell us, "Christ has 
already come; He is in our hearts; indeed He abides 
with us all the days." This is certainly true; our 
Lord in His divine nature is with every humblp, 



"This Same Jesus. 189 

trusting disciple, and all those Scriptures which re- 
fer to His abiding presence are to be understood in 
this sense. St. Paul says, ' 'Christ may dwell in 
your hearts by faith," but he never once says that 
Jesus may dwell in your hearts by faith; because 
Jesus is our Lord's human title, it represents the 
Man of Galilee. The Master said. "If a man love 
me, he will keep my words, and my Father will 
love him, and we will come unto him and make our 
abode with him." (John 14:23.) This He speaks, 
of course, concerning His divine nature; it is the 
coming of God to the heart, and not of the man 
Jesus. In His divine nature, He is, like the Father, 
omnipresent, but as the Son of man, as Jesus of 
Nazareth, He is to-day sitting at the Father's right 
hand, where He was seen by Stephen, when dying 
under a shower of stones. The humble martyr 
cried, "Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the 
Son of man standing on the right hand of God. 
Luke testifies that this "Son of man" who was seen 
by the martyr was "Jesus." (Acts 7:55, 56.) 
Brother, it is your privilege to have Christ with 
you at all timos, but that is far from being a sub- 
stitute for the coming of "Jesus," "the Son of 
man." Now, when our Lord went up into the 
heavens before the wondering gaze of His disciples, 
the white-robed messengers from the upper world 
said, "This same Jesus" "shall so come as ye have 
seen Him go." They thus used the human name 
of our Lord, which represented the Carpenter of 
Nazareth, the Crucified of Calvary, and the Coming 
Kin^ of all the earth. We know that Divinity is 



190 The Renewed Earth. 

not visible, "No man hath seen God at any time," 
but ' 'this same Jesus shall so come in like manner as 
ye have seen him go," and then, indeed, "every eye 
shall see Him," for He comes in His bodily, visible, 
human form. 

It is as man, sanctified by His divinity, that our 
Lord redeemed us, and it is as man that He shall 
inherit the earth. Consequently, His throne is to 
be the "throne of His father, David," and He is to 
reign over the house of Jacob forever. (Luke 
1:32, 33.) This earth was not made for angels, but 
for men; and our Lord lived among us, suffered for 
us, and shall return and reign over us, not as an 
angel, but as a man. Adam the first, lost the 
dominion of the world; Adam the second, regains 
it. "The first man, Adam, was made a living soul," 
l)ut he lost his life, and with it his dominion. "The 
last Adam was made a quickening" — a life-giving — 
spirit. So Jesus has bought back this earth, which 
was forfeited by the sin of the first pair, and as 
the second Adam, the Son of man, He is Lord of 
all, and shall return in glory and in power to re- 
ceive the church of the first-born, His wife, His 
Eve, unto Himself. Thank God, the earth, as well 
as man, who was made from the dust of the 
ground, regains in Jesus all it lost in Adam. 



Perpetuity of the Earth. 191 

CHAPTER IX. 
Perpetuity of the Earth. 



We now reach a very important phase of our 
subject. There is a popular notion abroad in the 
land that this earth is to be annihilated, utterly 
Hotted out, and, in fact, there are some Scriptures 
which, not carefully studied, lend some encourage- 
ment to this view. But we believe a more thorough 
investigation of the subject will convince the reader 
that this notion is without scriptural warrant, is 
contrary to fact, and derogatory to the Divine 
character. If the reader has held the idea of the 
utter destruction of the earth and all mundane 
things, let him open his heart and mind to a 
thorough and perfectly candid investigation of the 
subject. It is not profitable to retain an error, 
however hoary, or backed by whatever of seeming 
authority. We believe it can be shown from both 
reason and revelation that this earth shall be re- 
habilitated, purged from all the dross of sin, reno- 
vated by the fires of God, and perpetuated as the 
home of a holy and happy people. We undertake 
to show that the ''earth abideth forever," for this 
is, indeed, the plain declaration of the inspired 
Word. (Ecc: 1:4.) We are well aware of certain 
Scriptures that will likely come to the mind of the 
reader, in which we are told the "earth shall pass 



192 The Renewed Earth. 

away," "shall be burned up," etc., etc. They will 
be investigated in due time. Let us, however, at- 
tend, first, to a brief study of the subject from an- 
other, a primary, standpoint. 

I. The Argument from Reason. 

(1.) It would seem that a World-builder, as a 
house-builder, would have in mind the possible 
durability and usefulness of His structure. When 
men erect buildings, put up fences, or construct 
machinery, they commonly consider the question 
as to how much service can be secured from their 
work. It is probable that the earth was thousands 
if not even millions of years in process of prepa- 
ration. Of course we know that it has stood since 
man was placed upon it, since the creation of Adam, 
but about 6,000 years. But scientific investigation 
has confirmed many thinking men in the opinion 
that the rocks and minerals of earth are the result 
of the workings of God in creation's laboratory 
for thousands upon thousands of years. 

Ah, says one, that contradicts the plain teach- 
ings of the Bible. Not so, my friend. Scripture 
teaches nothing whatever contrary to this propo- 
sition. The Bible simply informs us that "In the 
beginning God created the heavens and the earth." 
But it does not tell us when this beginning was. 
Although man was created but some six thousand 
years ago, yet the beginnings of creation were 
chaotic. God evidently prepared the substance of 
the earth a great while before He formed it into its 
present habitable condition. After the statement 



Perpetuity of the Earth. 193 

in Genesis that God in the beginning created the 
heavens and the earth, we are informed that 
earth was "without form and void" — that it 
lay as it were a heap of ruins. How long 
it remained in this condition no one knows. 
There is not a hint in the record contradict- 
ing any length of time that geological research 
might assign it. If scientific investigation finds 
proof of a million years of rock-formation in the 
heart of the earth, why so be it. It would simply 
imply that from the time which Revelation desig- 
nates as "the beginning," when God "created all 
things," the formative processes had been allowed 
to continue, until that other day in which the Spirit 
of God brooded upon this unformed mass and 
brought order out of chaos. We will not enter into 
a discussion of the subject from a geological or 
scientific standpoint. That does not come within 
our province nor in the scope of our argument. I 
would simply call the reader's attention to this 
thought: There is nothing in Scripture to contra- 
dict any facts or dates that may be established by 
scientific investigation. The folly of those who 
have attempted to contradict the Bible, and sustain 
the charges of infidelity that the Scriptures are un- 
inspired from a scientific basis, is manifest, when we 
consider that we have no scriptural assertion 
which would limit the age of the earth to six thou- 
sand years. If the geologist can give any reason 
for believing that the rock-strata, underlying the 
surface of the earth, were six million years in pro- 
cess of formation, very well, let us have it. The 



194 The Renewed Earth. 

Bible simply points to the fact that there was a be- 
ginning time when God created all things. It then 
goes forward to a time, more or less remote, when 
the Spirit of God took in hand this unformed or 
chaotic mass of created matter and brought it into 
beauty and order. 

In fact, there are those among reverent Bible 
students — I do not speak of the higher critics, so- 
called; their work is destructive, and commonly re- 
sults in lower living — but I refer to godly, rever- 
ent students of the Scriptures; there are many of 
these, who believe that the earth was inhabited by 
a race of beings perhaps millions of years before 
the creation of Adam. They tell us that these like- 
ly fell into sin, and that the earth "became" a ruin, 
a void, a chaos. As to the truth or falsity of this 
position I am not prepared to say, I scarcely have 
an opinion, because my investigation has not been 
sufficient to justify it. But of one thing I am sure 
— there is no Scripture that limits the beginning of 
all material things to the recent period of six thou- 
sand years. The formation of the geological strata 
of earth may have occupied millions of years, and 
this may be susceptible of demonstration scien- 
tifically, it may not, I do not know. But, there 
being no Scriptures to contradict this, and the 
scientific investigations suggesting, as they seem 
to, that a very long time was occupied in this way, 
we should treat the matter with due respect. 

An intelligent and interesting English writer 
says: "The second verse of Genesis describes the 
earth as a ruin; but there is no hint of the time 



Perpetuity of the Earth. 195 

which elapsed between creation and this ruin. Age 
after age may have rolled away, and it was prob- 
ably during their course that the strata of the 
earth's crust were gradually developed. Hence, 
we see that geological attacks upon the Scriptures 
are altogether wide of the mark, are a mere beat- 
ing of the air. There is room for any length of 
time between the first and second verses of the 
Bible. And again, since we have no inspired ac- 
count of the geological formations, we are at lib- 
erty to believe that they were developed just in the 
order in which we find them. The whole process 
took place in pre-Adamite times, in connection, 
perhaps, with another race of beings, and conse- 
quently does not at present concern us." ("Earth's 
Earliest Ages, "p. 28.) 

Prom Richard Abbey we make the following ex- 
tract: 

"The researches of science and a better under- 
standing of Revelation has, we may say, demon- 
strated the Adamic creation to be comparatively a 
recent thing. Primary creation did not take place 
at that period; that is, the matter of the earth was 
brought into existence by creative power, perhaps 
many millions of years or ages — if there were any 
years or ages — before that time. The earth certain- 
ly was, for it was without form (its present form) 
when the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the 
waters. 

"Some, to get rid of the difficulty of making the 
time of Adam the period of absolute creation, 
which is already pretty clearly ascertained to be 



196 The Renewed Earth. 

contrary to nature, have considered the six days 
as six periods of indefinite and probably very great 
length. But I do not see the necessity, or even 
propriety, of this construction. The first two 
verses of the chapter, and those subsequent, speak 
of quite different things. The former inform us of 
primary, chaotic creation, and of the existence of 
the material of which the earth is composed, and 
that the Spirit of God took cognizance of it and 
exercised jurisdiction over it. And, beginning with 
the third verse, the history informs us of a quite 
different thing, viz., the arrangement of this mass 
and the putting of it into its present form and con- 
dition. This latter process was accomplished in 
six days, as we now count days. And there is no 
intimation in Scripture as to the amount of dura- 
tion which might have intervened between the 
creation of the original material of the world and 
the arrangement of it at the time of the creation of 
Adam." (Diuturnity, pp. 138,9.) 

As to whether these writers' conclusions concern- 
ing the six days are correct, I do not pretend to 
know. But their putting of the case is at least 
worthy of consideration, and is given here to show 
that others hold with me that the creation and sub- 
sequent formation of the universe most likely oc- 
cupied a long period of time, very much more than 
six days of twenty-four hours each. 

Now, our question is this, Would God occupy 
many thousands of years in the preparation of a 
globe that is capable of vast duration, and of sus- 
taining unnumbered millions of population, for 



Perpetuity of the Earth. 197 

hundreds of thousands of years, and then after the 
brief space of six thousand years, or a little longer, 
blot the whole thing out of existence? Would He 
do this? Is it like a God? Reader, what would 
you think of a carpenter who would spend ten 
years in building a house to be burned down at his 
own hands, at the end of one year? Would it not 
be a fool's bargain? And shall we charge God 
with bringing into existence a world such as this, 
and the very construction of which perhaps occu- 
pied ages, and then suffer the whole thing to come 
to nought by being destroyed at the end of six thou- 
sand or eight thousand years? 

Consider the possibilities of this earth. It is 
supposed at present to have a population of about 
one billion five hundred millions of people. While 
this is a vast, an inconceivable, number, a mere 
glance at the surface of the globe and the present 
distribution of the race will reveal the fact that it 
has a very small part of the population which it is 
capable of sustaining. For example, China, which 
is scarcely half so large as the United States, is 
the home of about four hundred millions of people, 
whereas we have less than one-fifth of that number 
in this country. Canada is said to be even larger 
than the United States, and contains but, a small 
proportion of the population of our own land. 
Then, when we look at the vast areas and the small 
populations of South America, of Australasia, of 
Africa, and of other parts of the globe, we see that 
the house which God has built has as yet, in pro- 
portion to its capacity, very few occupants. Will 



198 The Renewed Earth. 

He annihilate it, think you, before the family has 
grown large enough to fill its every room? It is 
probable that if all the world were as densely pop- 
ulated as China its inhabitants would be ten to 
twenty times what they now are. Instead of one 
billion five hundred million inhabitants, there 
would likely be fifteen to twenty or even thirty 
billions. Is there any reason why other parts of 
the world might not sustain and should not have a 
population equal to that of China, if not exceeding 
it? In these estimates we speak of the earth un- 
der present conditions. Beyond doubt it is capable 
of sustaining, even now, at the lowest calculation, 
a population tenfold greater than what it has. If 
Edenic conditions were restored, there seems to 
be no room for doubt that it would have one hun- 
dred times its present possibilities for sustaining 
life. Thus its population might become one hun- 
dred and fifty billions, instead of one and one- half 
billions. 

Our argument has reference more directly to the 
surface of the earth, to its agricultural possibilities 
and to the item of room, than to other questions. 
There is doubtless plenty of room to accommodate 
them, and the earth seems fully capable of furnish- 
ing food and clothing for the vast multitudes we 
have estimated. 

But that is not all; there are wonderful possibil- 
ities along other lines We might consider the un- 
developed resources of the earth internally. Look 
at the great quantities of ore and precious met- 
als buried in the bowels of the earth — the gold. 



Perpetuity of the Earth. 199 

the silver, the copper, the zinc, and the various 
metals more or less precious, awaiting the pick of 
the miner, even including diamonds and other rich 
treasures that God has stored away for the use, the 
comfort and pleasure of man. The iron ore seems 
inexhaustible, also the coal, hidden away for fuel, 
and the vast lakes of oil, for light, for warmth and 
for lubrication. No man knows the richness of the 
mines and lakes and reservoirs of earth, which God 
has in reservation for His people. Surely these 
things were made for use, not for destruction. The 
prophet says that God * 'Formed the earth and 
made it; He hath established it, He created it not 
in vain, or a waste, He formed it to be inhabited." 
(Isa. 45:18.) In the preceding verse the prophet 
declares, Israel "shall be saved in the Lord, with 
an everlasting salvation; ye shall not be ashamed 
nor confounded world without end." Here are a 
few things worthy of special note: (a) God made 
the earth, "not in vain." (b) It was to be inhab- 
ited, (c) He hath established it. (d) Israel shall 
dwell upon it, enjoying (e) An everlasting salva- 
tion, not being confounded world without end. The 
territory occupied by Israel is earth, not heaven, 
but the annihilation of his dwelling would be con- 
fusion, but the promise of God is that Israel shall 
not be confounded world without end, that is, "for- 
ever." All this but corroborates the reasoning we 
have advanced that earth has been made with a 
purpose and that purpose is not as yet accom- 
plished. Hence, the earth shall not be annihilated. 
(2.) God a Great Economist. There are men who 



200 The Renewed Earth. 

are noted for their utilitarian principles, they 
always have an eye to business. They are success- 
ful economists; with them nothing goes to waste. 
We are told that in the great packing-houses, 
where vast fortunes are made, every single thing 
is saved, even to the hoofs and horns and hair of 
every animal slaughtered. It is not their poverty 
that drives the men to this carefulness, but their 
wisdom. Now, it is a fact, that God works on this 
same principle. He saves everything. Even the 
leaves that fall at time of frost fertilize the ground, 
and every item of decay and refuse is turned back 
upon earth for its enrichment. We remember that 
Jesus, when He fed the multitudes by divine power, 
multiplying the few loaves and fishes into an abun- 
dance for thousands, was yet careful about saving 
the very fragments, that "nothing be lost." 
(John 6:12.) When God would water the earth, He 
does it by the principle of the endless chain. The 
water is drawn up from the rivers and seas and 
fountains, into the clouds; thence it returns in 
refreshing showers upon the earth; again, flowing 
through its proper channels, it reaches the rivers 
and the oceans. It has been asserted by scientists 
that nothing is ever annihilated; that annihilation 
is unknown in the material world. Fire, of course, 
comes nearer a complete destruction of every com- 
bustible material than anything else known. But 
even fire only reduces matter to its original ele- 
ments, leaving the full quota of substance in ashes, 
gases, cinders, etc. It does not seem to come 
within God's plan or purpose to suffer the annihi- 



Perpetuity of the Earth. 201 

lation of anything which He has created. If He 
refuses to allow the complete destruction of even 
a piece of coal, or a stick of wood, shall we sup 
pose that He will violate His own well-established 
and well-known principles, and wipe the entire 
earth and all things appertaining to it out of exist- 
ence in one fell hour or day? Certainly not. 

If the prophet is right, and God made this world 
to be inhabited, it must be worthy the outlay as a 
place of habitation, or the construction of it would 
seem to have been a failure. We have seen that the 
earth was most likely a very long period in build- 
ing. By this we do not deal with the question of 
the length of each of the creative days. There are 
many who contend that they were each a period of 
twenty-four hours only. But this does not follow 
of necessity, since the sun itself was not created 
until the fourth day. As the sun is the measure of 
our day, and was not in existence till the fourth 
creative epoch, there is certainly no proof that 
those periods were of the same length of duration 
as a day with us. In fact, we often use the word 
4 "day" as embracing an indefinite term, even of 
years, as when we speak of * 'Alexander's day," 
Napoleon "in his day," or when we refer to "our 
day," meaning the time in which we live. Christ 
Himself looking forward to the time of the recon- 
struction of all things as one of power and victory, 
comparing His glorious advent to the lightning'. 
said, "So shall the Son of man be in His day." 
(Luke 17:24.) Furthermore, Peter informs us that 
a day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and we 



202 The Renewed Earth. 

know that the creative epochs were God's days, 
rather than man's. Adam was not in existence 
till the close of the six labor days of creation. 

We are not, however, dogmatic at this point. 
The creative epochs called days may have been 
constituted of twenty-four hours each — as sug- 
gested by Rev. R. Abbey. Concede this, and our 
argument is still not in anywise affected, and why? 
Simply because God first created everything, per- 
haps, in an inchoate and shapeless condition. This 
creation was accomplished by power divine. The 
fiat of the Almighty brought something out of 
nothing, because it was a creation. How much time 
was given to this there is no information in the re- 
vealed Word. But after this, which is simply 
termed in Scripture language, "in the beginning," 
the six formative periods known as days come into 
the records. This period of six days was employed 
by the Spirit of God in shaping the previously un- 
formed mass of created material into the system of 
worlds which we behold. These days we may con- 
cede, without injury to our argument, to have con- 
sisted of twenty-four hours each, and still we are 
left without definite information as to the creative 
time which lay back of the six days, and is ex- 
pressed simply as "the beginning." That this 
origination of matter is independent of the six 
formative periods known as "days," and may have 
covered a vast stretch of what we call time, is gen- 
erally conceded by writers and speakers who have 
given thought and investigation to the question. 

But there is another phase of this problem 



Perpetuity of the Earth. 203 

which we should not overlook. We refer to the 
fact that creation is not the product of man's in- 
genuity, but results from the fiat of God, the 
Almighty, the All-wise. There is an infinite stretch 
between the finite creature and the absolute, the 
Infinite, Creator. Man may put years, yea, thou- 
sands of men may put centuries, indeed, millions 
of men may pour forth millions of years of labor 
and toil upon a given work, and the entire product 
cannot measure up to the simple fiat of Jehovah, 
the word spoken in a moment. God's almighty 
energy in creation, if exercised but a moment, sur- 
passes the product of finite mind, exercised through 
unmeasured cycles. So, let us consider this world 
as the handiwork of God, not of man. That upon 
which the Almighty has bestowed careful attention, 
and has put forth infinite labor, is certainly worthy 
of preservation. Can we conceive that the Infinite 
God Himself will build a world and stock it with a 
vast wealth of mineral, vegetable and animal ex- 
istence, and more than all this, place man upon 
it — man made in His own image — and then 
allow it destroyed after a few brief centu- 
ries? If the world was a million years in 
building, as many think, would it not seem like 
prodigality to suffer its annihilation after . a few 
thousand years? Shall God's work of ages run to 
waste in a few fleeting generations of human life? 
Does it not remind one of the saying of the Master, 
when He spoke of the folly of one who should at- 
tempt to build a tower without first sitting down 
and counting the cost, whether he have sufficient to 



204 The Renewed Earth. 

finish it? He allows such an one to be a subject of 
mockery on the part of those passing by. In like 
manner He condemns the folly of the king who 
would go to war without considering the possi- 
bility of meeting the invader with an army double 
in numbers that of his own. (Luke 14:27-32.) Can 
we conceive that the All-wise Jehovah has under- 
taken a work which He cannot perform, and that 
He will allow it to be blotted from existence as a 
failure? Reason would say, No. Faith in God 
would say, No. 

It were well in our investigations that we consider 
who are the antagonists on this battlefield. The 
upbuilding, the creation, the support and perpetu- 
ation of the world has God back of it. Its corrup- 
tion, ruin now, and ultimate overthrow, is the de- 
sign of the arch-enemy, Satan. God originated the 
world, Satan perverted it. God built it, Satan 
seeks its demolition. It is the war of the centuries, 
viz., that between Sin and Holiness, between right 
and wrong, between life and death, between heaven 
and hell, between purity and pollution, between 
God, the Holy, the Just, the Good, and Satan, the 
father of lies, and of murder. Which shall be the 
victor on the battlefield? The Post-Millennial 
creed assumes that after a few thousand years, 
during which sin and Satan dominate the earth, 
there shall be one thousand years of prevalent gos- 
pel, and well-nigh world-wide holiness, at the end 
of which another apostasy supervenes and Christ 
returns simply long enough to gather up His 
saints, set fire to the world, blast it to atoms, and 



Perpetuity of the Earth. 205 

sweep it into nothingness; this is to be followed by 
a judgment of the race, the bulk of which are con- 
signed to the lake of fire forever, the remainder, 
as a few splinters torn from the crumbling walls of 
a burning building, are gathered up and borne 
away from the scene of conflict to a far-off heaven, 
and thus, according to this creed of men, God's 
creation ends rather as an abortion than an accom- 
plished and glorious life. Perish such folly! Such 
travesty upon the Infinite wisdom, justice, holiness 
and mercy of God! This whole thing reminds one 
of the alarmed Russians fleeing before Napoleon, 
and leaving their own towns in ashes, because of 
their inability to cope with the great conqueror. 
Shall our God be thus routed by the forces of hell? 
Shall the Lord of Life and Glory be thus defeated 
by the black demons of death and destruction? I 
do not believe a word of it. But, says one, the 
Scriptures are against you. Why not go by the 
Word? Very well, to the Word we shall go. 



206 The Renewed Earth. 

CHAPTER X. 
Perpetuity of the Earth.— Continued. 



II. Appeal to the Scriptures. 

Having considered this subject briefly from the 
standpoint of reason, we now go to the final au- 
thority — the Word of God. Of course what lies 
ahead is unknown to us, except as it is revealed. 
Our vision cannot penetrate the future, our knowl- 
edge cannot solve its secrets, but there is an infal- 
lible guide in these matters. There are those who 
tell us that no prophecy can be understood in ad- 
vance of the fulfillment. While we may readily 
concede that many prophetic utterances are draped 
in shadowy language, yet it is clear that, on the 
other hand, many prophecies can be readily inter- 
preted and easily understood in advance of their 
fulfillment. Did not God foretell the flood through 
His servant Noah? What was difficult of compre- 
hension in that prophecy? Nothing, certainly. 
Was not the birth of Jesus understood in advance, 
through a study of the prophets, even to the very 
place of His birth, in Bethlehem of Judea? (Mic. 
5:2; Matt. 2.) Was not the destruction of Jerusa- 
lem plainly and unmistakably foretold by the Mas- 
ter? (Matt. 24.) Did not Jeremiah announce that 
Jerusalem should be overthrown by Nebuchadnez- 
zar (Jer. 25:8-11), and was not Cyrus even called 



Perpetuity of the Earth. 207 

by name about two centuries before his birth as 
the one who should rebuild the city? (Isa. 44:28; 
45:1-4.) Fulfilled. (2 Chron. 36:23,24 and Ezra 
1:1,2.) 

Men resort to this treatment of the prophecies 
because they are skeptical as to their utterances. 
Every shadow cast upon prophetic truth is a de- 
nial of the inspiration of Scripture. In fact, a 
large part of the Bible is prophetic. Prophecy 
breaks out in Genesis, continues through the Pen- 
tateuch, occurs in other historic scriptures occa- 
sionally, abounds in the Psalms, and, beginning 
with Isaiah, fills up the remainder of the Old Tes- 
tament canon. When we reach the New Testa- 
ment we learn that the spirit of prophecy is the 
testimony of Jesus (Rev. 19:10), and we see its 
flashing light breaking out through nearly every 
page. The Gospels abound in prophetic truth; 
touches of it appear even in the Acts; when we 
reach the epistles we find it to be the cable upon 
which they are all hung; and lastly, we observe 
that the climax of the whole is the prophetic book 
of Revelation. This book opens with a vision of 
the coming Christ and closes with a view of the new 
heavens and the new earth. Now T , if all prophetic 
scripture is to be set aside, as dim, uncertain truth, 
to be understood only after its fulfillment, then in- 
deed are we left very much at sea in our study of 
the Bible. As we have mentioned, the Apocalypse 
is wholly prophetic. It opens with this thrilling 
declaration, "Blessed is he that reads, and they 
that hear the w^ords of the prophecy of this book. 



208 The Renewed Earth. 

and keep the things written in it; for the time is 
near." (Rev. 1:3.) Upon whom is this blessing 
pronounced? Not simply on the reader of the 
Scriptures as a whole, nor the student of the his- 
toric Word, nor the lover of the devotional Psalms, 
but the reward is for the student of the "prophecy. " 
We are expected to read it, to meditate upon it and 
to understand it. In fact, we are told that "secret 
things belong unto the Lord our God; but that 
things which are revealed belong unto us and to our 
children." (Deut. 29:29.) The prophecies are re- 
vealed and therefore belong to us, and their study 
is to our advantage. 

Is the perpetuity of the earth promised in the 
prophecies? I am well aware that there are pro- 
phetic Scriptures which seem to imply the utter an- 
nihilation of this earth. They shall have attention in 
due time. Of course it behooves us to weigh all the 
Scriptures carefully, study them reverently, accept 
them fully, and seek from them in all possible com- 
binations the mind of the Spirit. We cannot 
afford to be dogmatic at all points, but must be rev- 
erent students of the Word. Let God speak while 
we withal lend a listening ear. He understands 
the future perfectly, our vision is as yet dim. With 
His aid the truth will open to us, hence we should 
study with prayer and in the spirit of the true 
learner. Our hearts must be reverent, our minds 
open, our wills submissive: we must be ready to sur- 
render the opinions of the past, and hear the truth 
of God as He may reveal it. We believe it will ap- 
pear on careful investigation of the Word that this 



Perpetuity of the Earth. 209 

earth shall continue as the seat of a holy, happy, 
deathless, fully-redeemed people throughout the 
endless cycles of the unmeasured future. 

1. The foundation of the earth was well laid. 

"Who laid the foundations of the earth, that it should not 
be removed forever." (Psalms 104:5.) 

This passage reminds us of a master-workman, 
who is preparing to erect a substantial sky-scraper. 
His building is to be massive in its walls and ex- 
ceeding high; he understands his business, and 
recognizes the value of a solid, unshakable foun- 
dation. So he digs down to the rock and lays the 
foundations of his superstructure, so that the 
building may abide the rains and winds and com- 
ing storms. God built this world. He understood 
His business. He laid its foundations well, pledg- 
ing Himself that they ' 'should not be removed for- 
ever." What say you to this, reader? Who can 
overthrow the superstructure which God hath 
builded upon immovable foundations, and the con- 
tinuance of which He Himself has declared shall 
be forever? 

2. Abraham's Everlasting Possessions. 

"And the Lord said unto Abram, after that Lot was sepa- 
rated from him, Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the 
place where thou art northward and southward and east- 
ward and westward: 

"For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, 
and to thy seed forever." (Gen. 13:14, 15.) 

To be sure Canaan is not a quarter section of 
heaven. It was at one time the home of a base, 

14 



210 The Renewed Earth. 

corrupt heathen people. Its metes and bounds are 
well known by the traveler in Asia and the student 
of geography. God even had Abraham look to- 
ward the four points of the compass, north, 
south, east and west, that he might view the 
estate which God deeded to him, "his heirs and as- 
signs forever." A study of this Scripture reveals 
several things, (a) It was spoken to a man in the 
flesh, not to a denizen of the spiritual world. 
Abraham was very human when God made him this 
pledge, (b) The land pointed out was strictly of 
the earth. It was a human habitation, not a habi- 
tation of spirits, (c) The idea of offspring was 
present, for God declared that this land should be 
the possession of Abraham's "seed." (d) Now to 
all these earthly conditions we have the pledge of 
perpetuity in the word "forever." The sum of it 
is, that this earth shall continue as an earth, with 
the seed of Abraham yet multiplying upon it 
and occupying the land of Canaan forever; if not 
thus, then, according to this promise, Canaan 
shall be turned into a section of heaven, 
where the redeemed and immortal descendants 
of Abraham shall live after the resurrection, 
else the word "forever" did not from the 
mouth of God carry the force it has in ordinary 
usage. This promise meant either an endless, an 
unlimited, possession of Canaan by the descendants 
of Abraham or a limited possession. If endless, 
the earth, of which Canaan is but a small part, 
must endure forever, in order that the promise be 
fulfilled. But if the promise does not include the 



Perpetuity of the Earth. 211 

possession of Canaan in perpetuity, ' 'forever, " then 
why should not some other word be used that 
would convey a different idea? 

Instead of circumscribing His promise to 
Abraham we find that God actually repeated it; in 
fact, in one form or another, it occurs many times 
in Scripture. Notice the following: 

"And I will establish my covenant between me and thee 
and thy seed after thee in their generations, for an everlast- 
ing covenant, to be a God unto thee and to thy seed after 
thee. 

"And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the 
land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for 
an everlasting possession; and I will be their God." 

(Gen. 17:7, 8.) 

This utterance of the Almighty was, perhaps, 
twenty years later than the one we have just ex- 
amined. In this place God establishes or renews 
His pledge, and declares to Abraham that it is for 
"thee, and thy seed after thee, in their generations, 
for an 'everlasting' covenant." Now, what does 
this everlasting covenant embrace? Why, He 
simply repeats the promise to give to Abraham 
"the land of Canaan" for an everlasting possession, 
etc. This pledge appertains to the earth. It does 
not carry us away to the future home of the risen 
saints, but it holds up before us a vision of "the 
land" in which Abraham was then a stranger. He 
was not yet in heaven, among the redeemed and 
glorified, but he was a Syrian pilgrim in a land occu- 
pied at the time by polluted and groveling heat liens. 
But this country, flowing with milk and honey, 



212 The Renewed Earth. 

was pledged to the father of the faithful. Then, 
again, we find here the thought of a perpetuated 
race in the word "generations." Here is an ever- 
lasting covenant made with a man in the flesh, ap- 
pertaining to a section of country in Asia, then the 
dwelling place of heathens, and with the pledge of 
blessing is indicated an endless possession of the 
land by his offspring, even by the generations of 
the "seed" of Abraham. How else can this be un- 
derstood than as carrying with it the thought of 
the continued population of Canaan by the off- 
spring of Abraham? But if Canaan continues to 
be populated, it proves the perpetuation of the race 
on earth. Now I know that many men flippantly 
throw this entire argument overboard because it 
runs counter to their preconceived notions. But let 
us reverently search the Word and give it due 
weight. The descendants of the father of the faith- 
ful shall continue in their generations forever. If 
so, the habitation of the earth shall continue ' 'world 
without end." 

3. Abraham's numerous progeny. Our argument 
receives additional weight by the vast offspring that 
God pledged to Abraham. 

; 'In blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will 
multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand 
which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the 
gate of his enemies.'' (Gen. 22:17.) 

This is a wonderful promise, made to a man who 
was "as good as dead." (Heb, 11:12.) It has been 
suggested, and no doubt correctly, that the double 



Perpetuity of the Earth. 213 

reference here to "the stars" upon the one hand, 
and "the sands of the seashore" upon the other, 
was intended to point out a double line of offspring 
from Abraham. The stars are supposed to refer 
to his spiritual progeny, for he is the father of the 
faithful. (Rom. 4:11; Gal. 3:7.) But while the 
orbs of heaven point to his numberless spiritual 
progeny, the sands indicate the unnumbered mul- 
titudes that shall descend from him after the flesh. 
Now, who can number the stars? Astronomers in 
recent years, who have made the most thorough 
investigation, have decided that their numbers are 
well-nigh infinite. Then, as to the sands of the 
seashore. There is no method of expressing their 
number. Billions might be multiplied by billions, 
trillions and quadrillions might be multiplied into 
their combined square, until the numbers stagger 
comprehension, and are absolutely inexpressible 
in figures, and still you have not been able to tell 
the number of the grains of sand upon the sea- 
shores of the earth. Now, this vast mathematical 
problem is given to indicate the offspring of Abra- 
ham. Elsewhere God introduces another figure 
that seems even stronger yet, "I will make thy 
seed as the dust of the earth; so that if a man can 
number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed 
also be numbered." (Gen. 13:16.) Dust is even 
finer than sand, its particles being much smaller. 

When we consider the fact, the historic fact, that 
the Jews have never been a numerous people, that, 
compared with the other races of the world, they 
have always been a comparatively small nation. 



214 The Renewed Earth. 

perhaps the smallest of well-known, historic peo- 
ples, we must look to the future, rather than to the 
past, for the fulfillment of this prophecy. There 
are about eleven millions of Jews on earth to-day, 
scattered among the nations. It is probable that 
they were never much more numerous at any one 
period in their history; indeed, a century and a 
half ago they scarcely numbered four millions. 
Looking at them historically, the prophecy would 
seem to be an exaggeration. But they have a 
future. It is probable that all the Jews who ever 
lived would not equal the population of China in 
the past hundred years. * But from the prophecy 
under consideration one might reasonably expect 
a larger number of Jews than of any other nation 
of people that ever lived. These remarkable fig- 
ures indicate such vast numbers of them as could 
hardly be found among any other of the races of 
the earth. There is surely nothing to warrant such 
an enormous estimate of the descendants of Abra- 
ham as is embraced in this prophecy, unless the 
future shall justify it. 

Hosea tells us that the children of Israel shall 
abide many days without a king and without a 
prince, but that in the latter days they shall return 
and serve the Lord. (Hosea 3:4,5.) The prophe- 
cies are numerous in both the Old Testament and 
the New which point out a glorious future for the 

*D. N. Lord estimated fifty years ago that they would re- 
quire another thousand years to reach seven hundred mill- 
ions since Abraham's day. But the Chinese number that in. 
two generations — seventy or eighty years. 



Perpetuity of the Earth. 215 

descendants of Jacob, but these predictions have 
their fulfillment only under the reign of the Mes- 
siah. (See Jer. 23:3-8; 30:7-10; 31:10-40; Ezek. 
36th and 37th chapters; Rom. 11:12-26, and many 
other scriptures.) Israel will again be the Lord's 
chosen at His return and in His kingdom. (Zech. 
8th and 12th chapters.) His blessings will be upon 
them abundantly in that day. They shall prosper, 
shall be blessed of God and made a blessing among 
men. Not only will they continue during the 
period of a thousand years, commonly known as 
the Millennium, but they will be the center of His 
kingdom in the new earth, and their offspring will 
then be so numerous as to fulfill the wonderful pro- 
phetic declaration under consideration, "They 
shall be as the sands of the seashore for numbers." 
This is the only thing apparently that will save this 
prophecy from at least the appearance of exagger- 
ation. When the curse is removed, when the shadow 
of sin is lifted from the earth, when disease be- 
comes unknown and death is only known by his- 
tory, when righteousness fills the world and the 
light of God's own face scatters the darkness of 
the earth, wben Edenic conditions are restored and 
the Gospel of infinite love is preached, believed, ac- 
cepted and obeyed through all the lands, when 
children born of holy parents are reared in the nur- 
ture and admonition of the Lord, and, like Enoch 
of old, walk throughout the centuries of their 
pilgrimage with God, till in some blissful day the 
chariots of the sky sweep alongside and bear them 
to the city above, and they are not found upon 



216 The Renewed Earth. 

earth because God shall have translated them, then 
will the prophecy be realized in all its blessed full- 
ness — that the seed of Abraham shall outnumber 
the stars of the sky and the sands of the ocean- 
beach. Blessed Coming Day! 

4. To a Thousand Generations. A Post-Millen- 
nialist, having heard me preach on the blessed 
theme of our Lord's near coming, came at me by 
way of reply with a proposition like this, "You 
believe the prophecies?" "Yes." "And you be- 
lieve the return of Jesus is near at hand?" "I do." 
"How do you reconcile your idea of His soon com- 
ing and the end of the world with God's covenant 
with Abraham to bless him and his seed after him 
to a thousand generations?" (1 Chron. 16:15,16; 
Psa. 105.8.) 

Our brother continued his reasoning like this, 
"We might allow forty years for an average gen- 
eration since Abraham, a thousand generations 
would therefore equal forty thousand years. But 
from Abraham's time to the present has scarcely 
been forty centuries, consequently we would lack 
more than thirty-five thousand years of having 
completed the time covered by this promise." 
Now, the brother thought his argument absolutely 
unanswerable, but it was based upon a false assump- 
tion, i. e., that the generations of earth shall cease 
when Christ comes, and such is, indeed, the un- 
founded assumption of Post-Millennialism. But it 
is not taught in God's Word. The Bible nowhere 
teaches that the human race will cease to generate 
and multiply when Christ comes. Prom the Post- 



Perpetuity of the Earth. 217 

Millennial standpoint, this is a difficult proposition. 
God has, indeed, pledged His blessing to the off- 
spring of faithful Abraham to a thousand genera- 
tions. Scarcely one hundred have passed since 
the promise was made. If the coming of Christ 
means the destruction of the earth, and the cessa- 
tion of its population, then the conclusion is inev- 
itably forced upon us, that He cannot come for 
many thousands of years, else the prophecy would 
seem to be an inexcusable exaggeration. But 
when we look at the subject scripturally, and see 
that the population of earth will continue and in- 
crease during the Millennium, and thence onward, 
through the uncounted millenniums of the new 
earth, when death and sin shall be no more, then 
the promise has a volume of meaning, a richness 
and beauty about it that is worthy Him who made 
it. How the idea ever gained currency that God 
would cut off the history of this earth and stop the 
increase and flow of its population is a question ! 

5. Continuance of Jerusalem. There is a pledge 
in Scripture that this ancient city shall continue. 
In the words of Jeremiah we read, tk The days 
come, saith the Lord, that the city (Jerusalem) shall 
be built to the Lord from the tower of Hananeel 
to the gate of the corner, ... it shall not be 
plucked up nor thrown down any. more forever. " 
(Jer. 31:38-40.) Again, we read a very similar 
declaration, "Judah shall dwell forever, and Jeru- 
salem from generation to generation.'' (Joel 3:20.) 
From another prophet we have this language, 
"Jerusalem shall be inhabited as towns without 



218 The Renewed Earth. 

walls, for the multitude of men and cattle therein t 
for I, saith the Lord, will be unto her a wall of fire 
round about and will be the glory in the midst of 
her." (Zech. 2:4,5.) "The Lord will choose Jeru- 
salem again," "I will bring them (His ancient peo- 
ple), and they shall dwell in the midst of Jerusa- 
lem," "many people and strong nations shall come 
to seek the Lord of hosts in Jerusalem and to pray 
before the Lord." (Zech. 8:20-22.) It will be ob- 
served, by the careful reader, that this is not some 
other city, but Jerusalem; neither is it the New 
Jerusalem that comes down from God out of heaven 
as the home of the risen and glorified saints, but it 
is that very city where our Lord was crucified. 
And why do we say this? Because it is the city 
that was once under the curse of God, which the 
New Jerusalem never was. This rejected city shall 
be chosen of the Lord "again." It is the same city 
which has been overthrown and devastated which 
is to be rebuilt. 

In the passage taken from Jeremiah (which see 
in full), the very dimensions of Jerusalem as it will 
be after its glory is restored are given, including 
"the tower of Hananeel," "the brook of Kidron," 
"the horse-gate toward the east," and so to the 
end. All this is very earthly; it gives no hint of 
the God-built city from the eternal world, but of 
the once-demolished and now rebuilt city wherein 
David and Solomon reigned. It shall be restored 
to greater magnificence than ever, its glory far sur- 
passing that of its palmiest days in former genera- 
tions. 



Perpetuity of the Earth. 219 

6. David's Throne. God made a great promise 
to David. It was a message through his servant 
Nathan. 

"And it shall come to pass, when thy days be expired that 
thou must go to be with thy fathers, that I will raise up thy 
seed after thee, which shall be of thy sons; and I will estab- 
lish his kingdom. 

"He shall build me a house, and I will stablish his throne 
for ever. 

"I will be his father, and he shall be my son: and I will 
not take my mercy away from him, as I took it from him that 
was before thee: 

"But I will settle him in mine house and in my kingdom 
for ever; and his throne shall be established forevermore." 
(1 Chron. 17:11-14.) 

God cannot lie. He has pledged Himself to Da- 
vid concerning his seed — which is Jesus — (Luke 
1:33 and Rev. 22:16)— that He will ' 'settle" him, 
which means to establish, or confirm him, in his 
kingdom; and "his throne shall be established for- 
evermore." Now, David had an earthly throne, 
not a heavenly. The establishment, therefore, of 
his kingdom and of his throne must necessarily be 
upon the earth. A very similar declaration is 
given through the prophet Isaiah, where he speaks 
of Christ as the "child born" and as the "Son 
given." He says, "Of the increase of His govern- 
ment and peace there shall be no end, upon the 
throne of David, and upon His kingdom, to order 
it, and to establish it with judgment and with jus- 
tice from henceforth, even forever." The "child 
born" has reference to our Lord's human nature, to 
His genealogy from David. The "Son given" por- 



220 The Renewed Earth. 

trays His divine nature, for He is God's only be- 
gotten Son, given for the world. (Jno. 3:16.) 
Now, in this dual character, in the combination of 
His divine-human nature, He is to possess the 
throne of David. By no stretch of the imagination 
<san this be made to represent a kingdom far off 
in other worlds, for David never occupied any 
throne, or ruled in any kingdom, outside of Pales- 
tine, The throne in heaven was occupied by Christ 
from creation; it needed no establishing, for it had 
no origin, being as eternal and unoriginated as the 
God-head. But the pledge given here is, that the 
throne of David shall be established. A promise 
of the same import may be found in the prophecy 
of Jeremiah. God says, "I will perform that good 
thing which I have promised unto the house of 
Israel, and to the house of Judah. ... I will cause 
the Branch of righteousness to grow up to David; 
and He shall execute judgment and righteousness 
in the land." Where is this judgment to be exe- 
cuted? In "the land" of Judah, not in the skies, nor 
in Heaven. He adds, "In those days shall Judah 
be saved and Jerusalem shall dwell safely." (Jer. 
33:14-16.) Like the other prophecies we have ex- 
amined, this points out the prosperity of Jerusa- 
lem, the triumph of Judah, the establishment of 
the throne of David, not in the far-off home "be- 
yond the blue," nor among the angels, but "in the 
land." 

These predictions are confirmed by the announce- 
ment of the angel when he informed Mary that she 
would be the mother of the Messiah. 



Perpetuity of the Earth. 221 

"He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the High- 
est; and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his 
father David: 

"And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and 
of his kingdom there shall be no end." (Luke 1:32,33.) 

The divine nature of our Lord is here set forth 
in the fact that He is called the Son of the High- 
est; His human nature is as clearly represented by 
the term, "his father David." The promise is then 
given that He shall reign — in heaven? No; but 
"over the house of Jacob" — how long? "Forever!" 
But, lest the simple expression "forever" might be 
misinterpreted, being limited, as it sometimes is 
by men, to mean simply a long period, a very great 
while, the messenger of heaven adds, "Of His king- 
dom there shall be no end." Nothing more could 
be said of the existence of God, or of the length of 
eternity than is here spoken of the reign of Christ, 
"over the house of Jacob" and on "the throne of 
David." 

There are those who stoutly contend that the 
throne of "David" represents, not an earthly king- 
dom, but the eternal throne of God. We object to 
this for several reasons, (a) The position has no 
scriptural foundation. I challenge the teachers of 
this idea to produce one single word from Holy 
Writ that clearly sets before us the thought that 
the "throne of David" is the same or the same as 
the "throne of God in heaven." That which has no 
scriptural warrant is unworthy our faith, if the sub- 
ject under consideration be a Bible doctrine, (b) It 
would minify the throne of heaven from whence all 



222 The Renewed Earth. 

worlds are ruled to represent it as a throne of a 
mere human monarch. Christ had a human na- 
ture, and, as such, being the Son of David, the Son 
of man, He may rule this world from the throne of 
David. But we cannot consistently concede that 
this earthly throne is the equivalent of the eternal 
throne of God. In fact, Jesus, as man, is to yield 
it up after awhile to the Godhead. (1 Cor. 15:28.) 
(c) It may be contended that this is but the symbol 
of the divine government. There is nothing about 
it to indicate that it is spoken as a symbol. The 
language is plain and specific. Figurative lan- 
guage is used when it is necessary to render a pre- 
diction clear on the one hand, or, possibly on the 
other, to cover, to veil, for the time being, a 
prophecy that might be frustrated, if expressed in 
unveiled language. But there is no reason why a 
prophecy concerning the throne of David, or, on 
the other hand, the eternal kingdom of Christ, 
should be thus veiled, nor is it veiled in other 
prophecies. We are told in simple and unmistak- 
able language that "He shall have dominion from 
sea to sea and from the river to the ends of the 
earth." Again, "the Lord shall be king over all 
the earth. " Then, as to the heavenly reign, St. 
John clearly announces that all created intelli- 
gencies worship Him, as likewise did Paul. (Rev. 
5:13; Phil. 2:11, 12.) Accordingly, we conclude 
that the angel spoke in plain language that which 
shall be literally fulfilled, viz.: that Christ "shall 
reign over the house of Jacob," and shall be king 
on earth, as was David, His father, after the flesh. 



Perpetuity of the Earth. 223 

7. That Christ's endless kingdom is on earth, thus 
guaranteeing the earth's perpetuity, is confirmed 
by the specific declaration of the prophet. We 
read in the Apocalypse that when the seventh angel 
sounded, "There came to be loud voices in heaven, 
saying, The kingdom of the world hath become 
the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ, and 
He shall reign unto the ages of the ages." (Rev. 
11:15, Rotherham's translation.) The language of 
the Revised Version is similar. "The kingdom of 
the world is become the kingdom of our Lord and 
of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever." 
There are a few points we would call the reader's 
special attention to in this prophecy, (a) The time 
of its utterance; at the sounding of the seventh 
trumpet, which is the last. This wonderful event 
does not occur, therefore, till the end of this dis- 
pensation. As the world now belongs to the devil, 
who is its prince, even its god, the dispensation 
must certainly change when the ownership of the 
world changes hands, (b) It is the dominion of the 
world — not the kingdom of the heavens — which 
passes into the hands of our Lord. There are 
those who contend that Christ already has the 
kingdom, but that His reign is in heaven, not on 
earth. But their vain speculations come to an end 
when brought into conflict with such prophetic 
declarations as this. We are plainly informed that 
Christ shall take the kingdom of the world, not 
the "kingdoms" as in the King James, but "the 
kingdom." There will not be many kingdoms un- 
der many rulers, but simply one dominion, (c) The 



224 The Renewed Earth. 

extent of this kingdom. After having asserted 
that it is the kingdom of the world, the heavenly- 
voices confirm the arguments which we have here- 
tofore advanced, viz. : that this kingdom on earth 
shall have no end. Listen! "He shall reign forever 
and ever." We would ordinarily understand an 
unending kingdom, when the simple term "for- 
ever" is used. But lest some human limitation 
might be put upon it, the word of inspiration 
makes assurance doubly sure by repeating the end- 
less term, ' 'forever." The same method is used by 
Daniel concerning the reign of the saints. He 
says, they "shall take the kingdom and possess the 
kingdom forever, even forever and ever. " (Dan. 
7:18.) Now, where is the eternal kingdom located? 
Our Post-Millennial brethren point us to the skies. 
Some of them even say that the blessed feet of 
Christ shall never stand upon this earth again, but 
these are earth-born voices. The voices from 
heaven joyously proclaim that He shall take the 
kingdom of the "world" and reign here forever. 
Then remember, dear reader, that this endless 
kingdom shall be world-wide, embracing in its 
beneficent scope all nations, tongues and peoples, 
(d) The time of this taking possession of the 
kingdom by our Lord, which we have seen to be at 
the sounding of the seventh and last trumpet- 
is further confirmed in this prophecy. We 
read, "Thy wrath is come and the time of the 
dead, that they shall be judged." (ver. 18.) This 
establishes the fact beyond all doubt that the 
reign of Christ over the nations of the earth will 



Perpetuity of the Earth. 225 

be inaugurated at the time of the Judgment, the 
time of the raising of the dead, the rewarding of 
His servants, the punishing of His enemies, and 
the vindicating of His truth. This completely an- 
nihilates the dogma of Post-Millennialism. If God's 
Word be true, Post-Millennialism is false, despite 
the high-sounding names it may boast. If Post- 
Millennialism be true, why, we had as well burn 
the Bible — for the Word and the Post-Millennial 
creed constantly contradict each other. They can- 
not be reconciled; hence, it is impossible that both 
should stand. Christ shall ''reign on the throne of 
His father David," "over all the earth" (Zech. 
14:9), the kingdom of the world shall be His, but 
not till the time of raising the dead and of inaugu- 
rating the Judgment. When His kingdom is once 
established, it shall occupy the same territory 
which had been the theater of the four world-wide 
kingdoms. (Dan. 2:33-44.) On the same earth 
whereon ruled Nebuchadnezzar, Alexander, the 
Caesars, and others of earth's potentates shall the 
Lord God set up a kingdom, and "it shall stand 
forever" — to eternity. This is contrasted with the 
other kingdoms, for they were mutable, whereas 
God's kingdom is immutable. They perished. His 
kingdom shall abide, their glory faded, the lustre 
of His crown shall never tarnish. It is when Jesus 
comes in the clouds that the despondent and suffer- 
ing disciples are exhorted to lift up their heads, for 

"the kingdom of God is nigh." (Luke 21:27-31.) 
15 



226 The Renewed Earth. 

8. Enthronement of the Apostles. 

"And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That 
ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the 
Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall 
sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel." 
(Matt. 19:28.) 

We have called attention to this scripture else- 
where, but we use it in this connection to show the 
following points: (a) The time is when the Son of 
man shall come, and shall "sit on the throne of his 
glory." (b) It is a "regeneration" period, i. e., 
the time for renewing and remaking the earth and 
the kingdoms thereof, (c) It is the time for the 
crowning of the Apostles, i. e., the day of the in- 
auguration of the Messiah's kingdom as Son of 
man. (d) There will remain at this time the 
twelve tribes of Israel. Now, if the earth is to be 
annihilated at the coming of Christ, there will re- 
main no tribes of Israel, no people over whom 
Christ and His apostles shall reign, and thus the 
whole scriptural idea of the kingdom would vanish 
away into nothing. But if the earth shall abide, 
the tribes of Israel continue, and the offspring of 
Abraham increase in the earth, throughout endless 
generations, then there is a volume of meaning in 
the text, and a wonderful outlook upon the future 
is afforded us. 

EVERLASTING GENERATIONS. 

I have no personal knowledge of the Hebrew 
language, but scholars tell us that the word for 
* 'eternity" is ik olam." It is used with reference to 



Perpetuity of the Earth. 227 

the existence of God and to the extent of His king- 
dom. Now, this word occurs in many Scriptures 
which are spoken with reference to the continuance 
of the earth, and the existence of the human fam- 
ily on it. Notice, especially, the following pas- 
sages: God said to Jacob, "I will make thee fruitful, 
and multiply thee, and I will make of thee a mul- 
titude of people; and will give this land to thee 
and to thy seed after thee for an everlasting (olam, 
eternal) possession." (Gen. 48:4.) Thus, to Jacob 
was Canaan promised for a possession of eternity. 
But what is the pledge worth if the earth, includ- 
ing Canaan, is to be annihilated? The reader will 
observe, also, in this passage the promise of a mul- 
tiplying of the population of the earth forever, in 
the fact that his "seed" are to inherit it. It is 
surely not to be the inheritance of risen, immortal 
and glorified beings, but of the continually increas- 
ing progeny of the man Jacob. In the prayer 
of Moses, who knew God personally and wc:s al- 
lowed a personal approach to Him such as few men 
have ever been permitted, we find this language: 

''Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, thy servants, to 
whom thou swarest by thine own self, and saidst unto them, 
I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven, aDd all this 
land that I have spoken of will I give unto your seed, and 
they shall inherit it forever." (Ex. 32:13.) 

The man of God is bold to call the Lord's atten- 
tion to the fact that He had "sworn," by Himself, 
that the land of Canaan should be an inheritance 
for ever — le olam, to eternity — for the "seed" of 
Abraham, of Isaac and of Jacob. 



228 The Renewed Earth. 

Joshua also recounts this matter in the following 
language: 

"And Moses sware on that day, saying, Surely the land 
whereon thy feet have trodden shall be thine inheritance, 
and thy children's for ever, because thou hast wholly fol- 
lowed the Lord my God." (Josh. 14:9.) 

He refers to the land of Canaan as Israel's pos- 
session, declaring to them, "It shall be thy inher- 
itance, and thy children's for ever" — olam, to eter- 
nity. We know that God exists to eternity, His 
throne likewise endures for ever, and lo, we have 
the declaration that Israel, in a series of endless 
generations, shall possess the land of Canaan. The 
Lord made a conditional promise to Solomon of 
the same character. He said, ' 'If thou wilt walk 
before me, as David thy father walked, in integ- 
rity of heart and in uprightness, . . . then will I 
establish the throne of thy kingdom upon Israel, 
for ever" — olam y to eternity. (1 Kings 9:4,5.) Be- 
cause of Solomon's apostasy, His name is with- 
drawn from future promises, but that of David's is 
continued. This passage, however, confirms our 
interpretation of the others, that there is an end- 
less, an eternal, kingdom made over to the descend- 
ants of David, Christ Himself occupying the throne 
to eternity. (Luke 1 :32, 33. ) < 

Mt. Zion is the hill upon which Jerusalem is 
built, and especially upon which Solomon's temple 
was erected. The following passage shows us that 
this Mt. Zion, and hence Jerusalem, shall continue 
for ever. 



Perpetuity of the Earth. 229 

i 'They that trust in the Lord shall be as Mount Zion, which 
cannot be removed, but abideth for .ever. 

"As the mountains are round about Jerusalem, so the Lord 
is round about his people from henceforth even for ever." 
(Psa. 125:1,2.) 

How long shall Mt. Zion abide? Forever — olam, 
to eternity. A very similar statement may be 
found in the following language: The Lord said, 
"In Jerusalem shall my name be forever — olam, to 
eternity." But suppose Jerusalem shall be de- 
stroyed utterly, suppose the very earth shall be 
swept into nothingness, or burned into ashes and 
scattered throughout the illimitable universe. Then 
what is the meaning of the passage before us? 

Isaiah is recognized as the evangelical prophet. 
Much of apostolic power rested upon this Spirit- 
anointed man. (Is. 6:1-9.) From his prophecy 
(chap. 60:14-21), we note the following points. The 
subject is "Zion" or the Holy One of Israel. He 
says, "I will make thee an eternal excellency, a 
joy of many generations;" "violence shall no more 
be heard in thy land, wasting nor destruction 
within thy borders," "the sun shall be no more thy 
light by day; neither for brightness shall the moon 
give light unto thee; but the Lord shall be unto 
thee an everlasting light, and thy God thy glory;" 
"thy people also shall be all righteous: they shall 
inherit the land forever — olam to eternity.'' We 
observe that the passage contains the following 
points: (a) It pertains to Zion, the city of the 
great King, and therefore represents Israel as un- 
der the reign of David, (b) Her excellence and 



230 The Renewed Earth. 

glory are to eternity, (c) The passage carries our 
vision forward to the new Earth, when the "sua 
shall be no more thy light." This condition pre- 
vails only after the Judgment, in earth made new. 
(Rev. 22:5.) The Lord Himself is the everlasting, 
the eternal, light of her and her mourning ends, 
because sin and all its consequences have ended. 
(Rev. 21:4, 5.) (d) In the midst of all this the per- 
petuity of the human race is assured by the fact 
that Zion, in this blessed condition, is * 'a joy of many 
generations," i. e., of endless or countless genera- 
tions, (e) Let us not overlook the fact that the 
whole scene is on earth instead of in heaven, for 
we read of the people as being all righteous, and 
that "they shall inherit the LAND forever" — olarn r 
to eternity. 

The same prophet elsewhere speaks as follows: 

' 'And the Redeemer shall come to Zion, and to them that 
turn from transgression in Jacob, saith the Lord. 

"As for me, this is my covenant with them, saith the 
Lord; My Spirit that is upon thee, and my words which I 
have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth, 
nor out of the mouth of thy seed nor out of the mouth of thy 
seed's seed, saith the Lord, from henceforth and forever." 
(Isa. 50:20, 21.) 

The passage confirms our argument in the fol- 
lowing points: (a) It is when the ' 'Redeemer shall 
come to Zion" — not when the people of Zion go to 
Him. (b) The Spirit of the Lord is present and 
operating among the people. "And He (the Spirit) 
shall not depart out of thy mouth, and out of the 
mouth of thy seed." There are many who believe 



Perpetuity of the Earth. 231 

that at the return of Christ, the Spirit will be taken 
from the earth. This is unscriptural. The Holy Com- 
forter will be here, throughout the Millennium and 
on through ceaseless ages, (c) The perpetuity of 
the race is assured by the promise being extended 
to include "thy seed" and "thy seed's seed." (d) 
Again, we find the word from "henceforth and for- 
ever" — to eternity. 

In the prophecy of Micah we find confirmation 
of the views we have presented. 

"In that day, saith the Lord, will I assemble her that 
halteth, and I will gather her that is driven out, and her 
that I have afflicted. 

"And I will make her that halted a remnant, and her that 
was cast far off a strong nation; and the Lord shall reign 
over them in Mt. Zion from henceforth, even forever." 

(Micah 4:6,7.) 

Observe the following points: It is: (a) At 
the close of Israel's desolation, when they are 
gathered from the ends of the earth. But this 
occurs only at the return of Christ. (Luke 
21:24-27.) God promises to assemble "her that 
halteth," and to "gather her that is driven out." 
The people that have been so long down-trodden 
of the nations are yet remembered of God, and will 
be restored to their land, (b) God pledges to make 
this "remnant," and this people that k, were cast 
far off," even the once-despised and dispersed of 
Judah, "a strong nation." (c) In addition to all 
this we have the pledge of the Lord that "He shall 
reign over them in Mt. Zion." (d) How long shall 
this dominion over restored Israel continue? for 



232 The Renewed Earth. 

a thousand years only? No, indeed, but from 
''henceforth, even forever'' — to eternity. 

We have found our position corroborated by the 
writings of Moses, of Jeremiah, of Micah, and we 
could, indeed, trace it out in nearly, if not all the 
prophets of Holy Writ. We will close the argu- 
ment at this point with some extracts from the 89th 
Psalm. Here we learn that God's faithfulness is 
made known to "all generations," that His "mercy 
shall be built up for ever" — to eternity. To David, 
God confirms His covenant, saying, "Thy seed will 
I establish for ever" — to eternity — and "build up 
thy throne to all generations." Listen to this 
astonishing statement, "His (David's) seed I will 
also make to endure for ever, and his throne as the 
days of heaven." Does this look like an annihi- 
lated earth? Again, Jehovah repeats the pledge 
that his (David's) seed shall continue to eternity, 
and adds that it shall be accompanied by the per- 
petuity of "his throne as the sun before Him." 
How long shall the sun endure? How long shall 
the days of heaven continue? Just so long shall 
the kingdom remain in Zion, and the throne of the 
Lord exist in Jerusalem; while the seed of Israel 
shall continue and shall serve and honor God. 
(Verses 2,4,29,36.) We might multiply Scriptures 
from the Old Testament, but it is unnecessary in 
this connection.* 

*I am indebted to D. N. Lord's "The Coming- and Reign 
of Christ" for the references to the Hebrew word olam here 
used. He is a man of research, and I accept his suggestions 
as to the force of this word. I know nothing of Hebrew. 



As to Eating and Drinking. 233 

CHAPTER XI. 
As to Eating and Drinking. 



In the study of this subject the question is fre- 
quently raised, WILL THERE BE EATING AND 
DRINKING IN THE RENEWED EARTH? Cer- 
tainly; as much so as there was eating and drink- 
ing on the part of Adam and Eve prior to the fall. 
Only let it be borne in mind that the earth con- 
tinues to be populated by the purified descendants 
of the first pair, and the answer to our question is 
easy. We know that God placed Adam in the gar- 
den, wherein grew all manner of fruits. Among 
others, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil 
and "the tree of life." It is highly probable that 
Adam's immortality depended upon his partaking 
of the fruit which grew upon the tree of life. This 
thought is confirmed by the action of God in driv- 
ing the man and his wife forth from the garden, 
when the Almighty said, "The man is become as 
one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he 
put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, 
and eat, and live forever: therefore the Lord sent 
him forth from the garden of Eden.'' (Gen. 
3:22,23.) The only legitimate conclusion is that 
life was prolonged by access to that tree known as 
the tree of life. But since God had sent forth the 
edict that man should die, the penalty of disobedi- 



234 The Renewed Earth. 

ence was enforced by his expulsion from the gar- 
den, thereby preventing his access to the life-giv- 
ing tree. In the renewed earth, access to the tree 
of life is permitted and thereby the nations are 
healed, and, as a consequence death is no more. 
(Rev. 22:2.) 

WILL THE RISEN IMMORTALS EAT? 

This question is more difficult than the other, 
and yet the Scripture seems to abundantly sustain 
an affirmative answer. 

We must remember that the resurrection is for 
the body, involving a resuscitation of the physical 
man. While the resurrected body evidently has 
none of its coarser, carnal, sexual elements, it does 
possess a real entity. In the case of Jesus, we 
know that the identical body which was laid in the 
tomb came forth, and was doubtless "handled" by 
the disciples. (1 John 1:1.) To them Jesus said, 
"Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: 
handle me and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and 
bones as ye see me have." The disciples were 
amazed, wondering; their astonishment being 
mingled, of course, with great joy, when lo! the 
Master asked them, "Have ye here any meat?" 
"And they gave Him a piece of a broiled fish and 
of an honeycomb; and He took it and did eat it be- 
fore them." (Luke 24:39-43.) Bear in mind, 
reader, that this occurred after the resurrection of 
Jesus, when He possessed the same body in which 
He now sits at the Father's right hand in heaven. 
Peter, preaching to Cornelius, says: "We did eat 



As to Eating and Drinking. 235 

and drink with Him after He rose from the dead." 
(Acts 10:41.) Whatever Jesus may do in heaven, 
and however the future of His saints may be, we 
know that our Lord did partake of solid food after 
His resurrection. 

2. The Psalmist, referring to the time when the 
Israelites were fed in the wilderness upon manna, 
says tihat God "opened the door of heaven and 
rained down manna upon them to eat," and gave 
them of "the corn of heaven." To this he adds, 
"Man did eat angels' food." (Psalm 78:23-25.) So 
it seems that angels have "food," and that it is 
called the "corn of heaven," and it is so substantial 
that the children of Israel could live upon it in their 
wilderness journeys. 

3. The above argument is confirmed by a scrip- 
tural incident. We remember that when Abraham 
stood in his tent door (Gen. 18:1-8), "the Lord ap- 
peared unto him," "and he lift up his eyes and 
looked, and, lo, three men stood by him." The 
patriarch welcomed them, brought water that they 
might wash, and bade them rest themselves under 
the tree. He hastily killed a "calf, tender and 
good," which was dressed and prepared with milk, 
butter and "cakes," which were baked "upon the 
hearth." This repast was set before them, "and they 
did eat." Now, who were these men? The Lord 
Himself seems to have been one of them. The other 
two were evidently the angels, which a little later 
appeared in Sodom at the home of Lot. We read 
concerning the departure from Abraham, "The 
men turned their faces from thence, and went to- 



236 The Renewed Earth. 

ward Sodom, but Abraham stood yet before the 
Lord." It seems clear that those who are called 
"men," and who departed for Sodom, were the 
same two angels which appeared unto Lot as he 
1 'sat in the gate of Sodom. " They entered into his 
house, washed their feet, "and he made them a 
feast and did bake unleavened bread, and they did 
eat." (Gen. 19:1-3.) They appeared as men, 
talked as men, ate as men, and yet it is specifically 
stated they were "angels." So we not only find 
that men in the wilderness lived upon angels' food, 
but that angels also partook of men's food. When 
these two angels appeared to Abraham, the Lord 
was with them, and He, as well as they, partook of 
the meal set before them by the patriarch. The 
Lord did not accompany the angels to Sodom, but 
"went His way as soon as He had left communing 
with Abraham." (18:33.) 

4. There are a number of promises made by the 
Saviour to His faithful followers which bear out 
the idea that the inhabitants of the celestial king- 
dom will both eat and drink. 

(a) The Master said to His disciples as they sat 
with Him at table, on the night of His betrayal, 
4 4 I have heartily desired to eat this passover with 
you before I suffer (marginal reading) : for I say 
unto you, I will not any more eat thereof, until it 
be fulfilled in the kingdom of God." He next gave 
them the cup, representing His life-giving blood, 
and said, "I will not drink of the fruit of the vine 
until the kingdom of God shall come." (Luke 
22:15-18.) 



As to Eating and Drinking. 237 

(b) He not only looked forward to the time when 
He Himself shall drink of the fruit of the vine in 
His kingdom, but He pledges His disciples that 
they shall partake of it with Him in that day. He 
says, "I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of 
the vine, until that day when I drink it new with 
you in my Father's kingdom." (Matt. 26:29.) So 
we find that both He and His disciples are to eat 
and drink in the day of His glory. 

(c) The kingdom of heaven is compared in its in- 
auguration to a great wedding feast. (Matt. 22; 
Luke 14.) The angel bade John, "Write, Blessed 
are they which are called unto the marriage supper 
of the Lamb." (Rev. 19:9.) But those who reject 
the call of the Master in this, the day of His rejec- 
tion, shall not partake of that feast. ' 'I say unto 
you that none of those men which were bidden 
shall taste of my supper." (Luke 14:24.) Thus 
we find that a certain class shall be admitted to the 
wedding feast, and another class shut out. But 
some are so disposed to spiritualize everything 
pertaining to future life that they cannot believe 
there will be anything so "gross and material- 
istic" as eating and drinking in the celestial king- 
dom. To all such we commend the language of 
Jesus, "I appoint unto you a kingdom, as my 
Father hath appointed unto me; that ye may eat 
and drink at my table in my kingdom, and sit on 
thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel. " (Luke 
22:29,30.) This language is specific and easily to 
be understood. I cannot but believe that the Mas- 
ter said what He meant, and meant what He said. 



238 The Renewed Earth. 

If so, there is to be a kingdom, in which there are 
to be thrones, there is to be a table, and at this 
table the faithful may ' 'eat and drink. " With one 
of old, I would say, "Blessed is he that shall eat 
bread in the kingdom of God." (Luke 14:15.) 



Earth Renewed and Perpetuated. 239 

CHAPTER XII. 
Earth Renewed and Perpetuated. 



NEW TESTAMENT ARGUMENT. 

Having pursued our investigations mainly in the 
Old Testament, we now purpose examining some 
passages in the New Testament. As in all other 
cases it will be found that the starlight or day- 
break of the Old shades into the high noon of the 
New, the lesser light of the Old gives place to the 
greater of the New. 

I. Earth the inheritance of the saints. How 
familiar the words of the Master, "Blessed are the 
meek; for they shall inherit the earth." (Matt. 
5:5.) I well remember my moralizing on this when 
a youth. I said, "It seems they do not usually in- 
herit much of it. As a rule, the Lord's people are 
the poorest, many of them being forced to live in 
cottages, or even cabins, and these frequently 
rented, rather than being their own propertj^." 
But a broader vision has come to me. In it I have 
learned that the time of the saints' inheritance is 
not yet. The Master did not say, "They have in- 
herited" the earth, but "they shall'' He even 
spoke of his own "day" as future. (Luke 17:-4.) 
The world is at present under the dominion of 
Satan, and in possession of his servants, who hate 
Christ and His followers. (Jno. 15:18,19.) But the 



240 The Renewed Earth. 

Lord God shall give this world to His Son. (Psa. 
2:8.) And His saints shall inherit it with Him, for 
they are co-heirs. (Rom. 8:17.) We know they 
have not yet entered upon their inheritance, for 
Satan is yet the prince of the world, and the god 
of the age, while the Lord's followers are yet pray- 
ing, "Thy kingdom come." (Matt. 6:10.) If the 
earth is to be destroyed at the coming of Christ, 
and the devil is to be its god through this age, till 
our Lord's return, then pray tell us, when do the 
saints inherit the earth? If the earth is to be de- 
stroyed, as is commonly believed, what will it be 
worth as an inheritance to the meek, or to any one 
else? There would be little inspiration to offer a 
man as an inheritance something that is to be swept 
into destruction as soon as it becomes his. 

Not only so, but the theory that limits the Lord's 
reign on earth to one thousand years is well-nigh 
as short-sighted as that which annihilates it at His 
coming. It would seem strange if the Lord should 
make the world, let the devil run it for six thous- 
and years, then give it to His Son and the saints 
for one thousand years, and immediately afterward 
destroy it. The devil would get the lion's share. But 
such is not God's plan. "The earth is the Lord's, 
and the fullness thereof; the world and they that 
dwell therein." (Psa. 24:1.) The dominion of 
Satan on this planet is but an interregnum, a sim- 
ple parenthesis in the plans of the Almighty. In 
due time Beelzebub shall be ousted from his stolen 
domains, and earth's rightful Sovereign shall pos- 
sess it for ever. Hail the coming day! Let the 



Earth Renewed and Perpetuated. 241 

meek of the earth look up and lift up their heads, 
for the earth shall be their possession ere long. 

II. Its present condition. The glory of this 
earth, save the short time in which it was occupied 
by the unfallen pair of Eden, lies ahead. Its state 
as yet is sad. The great Apostle to the Gentiles 
portrays the present condition in lurid colors: 

"For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for 
the manifestation of the sons of God. 

"For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willing- 
ly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in 
hope; 

"Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from 
the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the 
children of God. 

"For we know that the whole creation groaneth and tra- 
vaileth in pain together until now. 

"And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the 
firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within our- 
selves, waiting for the adoption, to-wit, the redemption of 
our body." (Rom. 8:19-23.) 

This passage loses much of its force by what is 
manifestly a faulty translation in the common ver- 
sion. The word "creature" should be "creation." 
In proof of this, examine any critical authority, 
such as the Revised Version, Rotherham, the Greek 
text, etc. In the Revised Version we read, "The 
earnest expectation of the creation waiteth for the 
revealing of the sons of God. For the creation 
was subjected to vanity, ... we know that the 
whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain to- 
gether until now." It will interest the reader to 
note the translation of Rotherham, which is very 

16 



1\2 The Renewed Earth. 

literal and especially full of meaning, "For the 
eager outlook of creation ardently awaiteth the 
revealing of the sons of God, for unto vanity hath 
creation been made subject — not by choice, but by 
reason of Him that made it subject in hope that 
creation itself also shall be freed from the bond- 
age of the decay, into the freedom of the glory of 
the sons of God; for we know that all creation is 
sighing together, and travailing in birth- throes, 
together until the present, — and not only so but we 
ourselves also who have the first fruit of the Spir- 
it — we even ourselves, within our own selves, do 
sigh, — sonship ardently awaiting — the redeeming 
of our body." 

Reader, did you ever understand this passage? 
It cannot be properly interpreted in the light of 
that theory which proposes the utter destruction 
of the earth. In this Scripture the shadows lie 
heavy now, the sunlight shall burst by and by. 
There are here affirmed three things of creation, 
in its present estate. (1) It is a "groaning" cre- 
ation; (2) a creation subject to "vanity;" (3) a cre- 
ation in bondage to "corruption." From all this, 
the creation is ardently awaiting deliverance, which 
is promised it at "the manifestation of the sons of 
God." 

1. A groaning creation. (Verse 22.) Groaning 
indicates pain, sorrow, anguish. Rotherham uses 
the word "sighing." A sigh indicates a grief of 
spirit, a deep-seated trouble. So the whole crea- 
tion, i. e., as pertaining to this world, is sighing and 
groaniug over its sad and painful condition. Any 



Earth Renewed and Perpetuated. 243 

student of history, past or present, is bound to rec- 
ognize the force of this passage. The world is a 
battlefield, a graveyard, a scene of desolation; it 
is swept with sighs, washed with tears, covered 
with graves and piled with the bones of its dead. 
The sadness of this world is hard to picture; in- 
deed, it is impossible to comprehend. It is marvel- 
ous how the great and tender heart of our com- 
passionate Father can endure the endless sighs and 
overflowing tears of this groaning, sin-blighted, 
suffering creation. The reader will observe that 
the apostle declares that the creation "travaileth 
in pain together," or as Rotherham puts it, "in 
birth- throes." He uses as a figure to illustrate 
the agony of earth's groaning the sorrows of ma- 
ternity. There is nothing that touches a tender 
heart more than the cries of helplessness when a 
mother in travail is bringing forth her first-born. 
But we know that out of the anguish of travail 
comes new life, and herein is to be found the mean- 
ing of that expression, that God hath subjected the 
creation to these things in hope, i. e., in the ex- 
pectation that out of the travail, the anguish, and 
agony of the present condition (like a sinner's agony 
when under deep conviction for sin), creation shall 
be born again into a newer and better life — into a 
new creation. 

We observe that the whole creation, so far 
as earth is concerned, is subject to this condition 
of agony, of groans, of corruption. None are ex- 
empt, Men seek to drown their sorrows in the 
cup, but the intoxicating bowl only intensifies and 



244 The Renewed Earth. 

multiplies them. They seek to forget their griefs 
in the giddy whirl of the ball-room or in the sen- 
sual follies of the theater. But these fail. They 
strive to rise above anguish and suffering by the 
accumulation of wealth, but there are sorrows and 
skeletons in the palace, as in the hovel. Earth has 
no remedy, the race cannot deliver itself, our only 
hope is from on high. In view of these facts, how 
foolish are the giddy and thoughtless revelings of 
men. Will not our sorrows drive us to the cross, 
cannot men be called by the groanings of creation 
to center their dependence on God, and thus be led 
to a higher and better life? 

But there is a pathetic revelation on this subject 
in the Inspired Scriptures. We hear that even the 
Godhead, in all its triune perfection, suffers with 
man over sin. This seems, no doubt, a rash state- 
ment, but let us see what the Word has to say 
about it: 

(a) The Father. Does He suffer? Let Isaiah 
answer. "In all their afflictions He was afflicted." 
(63:9.) The reference is to the Father and His re- 
lations to the children of Israel. They suffer and 
He suffers with them. They suffered through their 
sins, and He because of them. In the book of 
Judges we read, "His soul was grieved for the 
misery of Israel. (10:16.) 

(b) The Son. "He is despised and rejected of 
men; a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. " 

"He was wounded for our transgressions, 

He was bruised for our iniquities." (Isa. 53:3-5.) 
We further read that "He was oppressed," "He was 



Earth Renewed and Perpetuated. 245 

afflicted," "He was bruised," He was put "to grief." 
"He shall see of the travail of His soul." Thus 
we find that Jesus, the second person in the adora- 
ble Godhead, has gone through the anguish and 
agony, the sorrow and travail,. which result from 
sin. 

(c) What about the divine Spirit? Does He also 
suffer? Let the inspired Paul answer. "The 
Spirit Himself maketh intercession for us with 
groanings which cannot be uttered," that is, with 
unutterable, inexpressible groanings. O, that our 
hearts might be reverent as we contemplate this 
awful subject. Reader, had you thought of it, that 
through the follies of our race, and its wicked 
transgressions, even the holy Father, the pure, the 
lovely, the undefiled Son, the immaculate, the 
divine Spirit have been made to suffer? Every 
transgression of your life is a grief and a source 
of sorrow and pain upon the heart of God. Then 
let us loathe sin, abhor transgression, abstain from 
every form of evil. Does not this thought throw 
light upon a passsage in Luke (15 :10), * 'There is joy 
in the presence of the angels of God over one sin- 
ner that repenteth." This does not say that there 
is joy "among" the angels, as so frequently qaoted, 
but the joy and rejoicing are said to be "before'' or 
in the presence of the angels. This doubtless 
means that it is on the part of the Godhead that the 
joy is felt and expressed over the repentance of a 
sinner. We know that Jesus wept for love of 
Lazarus at his grave and over Jerusalem because 
of its sins, but now we find that the whole Trinity 



246 The Renewed Earth. 

suffers on account of sin, and rejoices over a re- 
turning soul. 

2. Vanity. The word rendered "vanity" is 
"mataioteti." It is defined by Pickering, "Vanity, 
folly, levity, inutility;" "in the sense of frailty or 
transientness." We observe among these defini- 
tions the words "frailty," "transientness," "inutil- 
ity," and under such conditions is the earth at pres- 
ent. A transitoriness seems to characterize all 
things earthly. There is nothing stable, fixed, 
settled; governments decay and pass away, even 
marble monuments crumble to pieces, iron rusts, 
and the most durable things perish. Another term 
we find here is "inutility." The evil grows of 
itself, the good has to be cultivated. The poor 
man toils through the long days of summer, and yet 
often finds in the autumn no harvest, the drought 
has consumed his crop, or the land is too poor to 
produce it. It is a part of the curse that rests 
upon the earth. (Gen. 3:17-19.) God has forced 
the earth into this condition of vanity because of 
sin; when sin is removed from the earth these con- 
ditions will pass away, and stability and beauty 
shall characterize creation. As it is now, the very 
music of creation seems pitched in a minor key. 
As we write these lines, a plaintive note is heard 
from the playing of the winds on the telephone 
wires just outside our door. The winds sigh as 
though they were just from a funeral, as we hear 
their plaintive note we look out to see if the tears 
might not be falling. Reader, did you ever go out 
alone in a beautiful spring morning, when all crea- 



Earth Renewed and Perpetuated. 247 

tion is taking on new life, when the sun is shining 
in beauty and the earth is carpeted in green? In 
the midst of this picture of new life, have you never 
sat down among the pine trees and watched them 
as the spring breeze sweeps through their boughs? 
Have you never listened at the tune the zephyrs 
were playing through their branches? Amidst all 
the beauty of spring you find here a mournful 
cadence, a low, plaintive note, that tells of sorrow 
and begets a feeling of sadness in the depths of one's 
soul. What do the sighing winds tell us? From 
what text do they preach their sermons? Does not 
your mind turn to Romans 8th and answer, "The 
creation is made subject unto vanity, it sigheth and 
travaileth in pain together"? 

3. Corruption. The Greek word here is "phtho- 
ras" It is defined by Pickering, "corruption, de- 
struction, ruin; contagion, pestilence, mortality; 
violation, seduction; debauching, depraving." 
Rotherham renders the word at this place, "de- 
cay;" so the creation is under the blight of sin; its 
contagion and pestilence are everywhere; all 
around is decay. Hence come all our diseases. 
The very earth is full of poison, and the air is im- 
pregnated with death. We drink in death from 
our cisterns and swallow it in our food. God has, 
because of sin, turned His hand upon us, and 
wasting and decay dwell under our roofs and sit at 
our tables. The curse is on man and beast; even 
the sunshine brings fever, while the shade is load- 
ed with chill. The pestilence flourishes in the 
shadows, and the deadly fever in the sunlight. 



248 The Renewed Earth. 

There are sorrow and pain, anguish and agony, 
tears and heartaches to be encountered on every 
hand. Man and beast are alike involved in the suf- 
fering and sorrow that result from sin. 

III. Deliverance Promised. As long as there is 
sin, there will be death. As long as there is death, 
there will be anguish and tears. But, praise the 
King, a brighter day is promised! God hath sub- 
jected the earth and all creation unto this condition 
of vanity, in the hope that "creation itself shall 
also be freed from the bondage of decay into the 
freedom of the glory of the sons of God. " (Verse 
20, Rotherham.) The remedy shall go as deep as 
the disease. The God of our hope and redemption 
is fully able to cope with the god of this age. He 
has promised that earth's shackles shall be broken, 
and that the freedom of the "sons of God" shall 
be extended to the entire creation. Wherever the 
chains of sin have galled, there shall be applied 
the balm of Gilead. For every tear shed on ac- 
count of sin, God has a smile of relief; for every 
shackle forged by the arch enemy, the Most High 
has a jubilee of deliverance. The Master tells us 
that the mother who brings her child into the world 
in agony, straightway forgetteth her pain, for joy 
that a man is born into the world. And so groan- 
ing creation shall by and by forget its agonies in 
the bountiful deliverance which shall be hers when 
the old sighing condition gives place to the joys of 
a new creation. 

There is a passage especially applicable in this 
connection which is sometimes used by preachers, 



Earth Renewed and Perpetuated. 249 

frequently by evangelists of the "holiness" per- 
suasion. We refer to 1st John 3:8, "For this 
purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He 
might destroy the works of the devil." It is a 
beautiful passage and very full of meaning. It 
certainly teaches a present deliverance from sin. 
But this is not all. What are the ' 'works of the 
devil"? Some one answers, "Sin." But "sin" is 
singular, the text uses a plural term, "works." 
Sin is, indeed, the root of all evil, and when sin is 
destroyed in a life, that happy soul is on the way 
to complete and final deliverance. But the text 
evidently involves more than the simple sanctifica- 
tion of the soul and body. (1 Thess. 5:23.) Glori- 
ous as is sanctification of the individual, the apostle 
points us in this text to yet more, even to the de- 
liverance of groaning creation. The devil's curse 
has spread over all creation. In its wake comes a 
multitude of indescribable ills, withering and 
blighting the bodies, minds and souls of men — 
such as poverty , famine, pestilence, war; gray hairs, 
stooping forms, aching limbs, shattered minds; 
bruised hearts and broken spirits groaning and 
sighing over the intrusions of the adversary — these 
and ten thousand other things may be catalogued 
among the "works of the devil." But Christ shall 
destroy them. The work of reconstruction must 
and will be co-extensive with the work of demoli- 
tion. Wherever the dragon has sown the tares, 
God's angels shall bind them into bundles for the 
burning, and there shall be gathered golden grain 
for the harvest day of the Lord. Rev. R. Abbey, 



250 The Renewed Earth. 

whom we have quoted as a Post-Millennialist, has, 
nevertheless, some very true words on the victories 
of Christ. Hear him: ' 'Every thing that sin in- 
jures will be rectified, cured, renovated, brought 
back to its proper, natural place and use, as God at 
first intended. The system of Remedy in and 
through Christ will not be partial, but absolutely 
complete. The benefits of the atonement will 
reach and cover every inch of ground which in any 
and every way was touched or affected by the sin 
of Adam." (Diuturnity, page 155.) Again, ' 'Sick- 
ness, famine, war, want, hate and frowns are the 
footprints of sin; but the tread of the Saviour shall 
efface them perfectly, and the earth shall be clean 
and smooth as it was." (Page 359.) Once more we 
quote him, "Christianity predicates salvation, not 
only of individual persons, but of the race. If it 
shall proceed until the whole race shall be thor- 
oughly Christianized, and cause it to remain so 
finally, and thus conduct the world on into the 
diuturnal ages of sinless life, then it may be said 
it was a success; otherwise it stands an acknowl- 
edged failure. " (Ibid, page 273.) Now, this brother 
is a Post-Millennialist, and according to his theory 
the world will run along under Christianity, as at 
present organized and constituted, until this glori- 
ous condition is brought about. He says in one 
place, "In the regular course of the history of this 
world, the time will come when universal holiness 
shall pervade the human family; then not a person 
— accountable for his conduct — will be found in the 
earth but a sanctified Christian." 



Earth Renewed and Perpetuated. 251 

I thoroughly believe everything he says, except 
his contention that these things will be brought 
about by the regular processes now at work. The 
renovation shall come, earth shall be disenthralled, 
the shackles of sin shall be broken, the powers of 
darkness shall be turned into the hell in which they 
belong, and the Christ of Calvary shall sway the 
sceptre of world-wide empire. He shall destroy 
the works of the devil — all of them. Every form 
of sin shall be swept from earth, every vestige of 
evil shall be rooted out, every baneful upas tree 
shall be destroyed, root and branch; every trace of 
sin shall be effaced; this earth, purified, redeemed 
and clothed in Edenic beauty and glory, shall be 
the inheritance of the saints. On it Christ and His 
bride shall live, and without a tinge of suffering or 
sorrow to even remind the race of its former trans- 
gression. The earth shall bloom and blossom as the 
garden of God. It shall be delivered from the 
bondage of corruption into the freedom of the lib- 
erty of the sons of God. 

IV. The Restitution. 

There is a passage in the Acts, an utterance of 
Peter, the spokesman at Pentecost, which is full of 
significance in this discussion. 

"Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins 
may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come 
from the presence of the Lord; 

"And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was 
preached unto you: 

"Whom the heaven must receive until the times of resti- 
tution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of 
all his holy prophets since the world began." (Acts 3:19-21.) 



252 The Renewed Earth. 

The apostle is preaching repentance unto the 
forgiveness of sins, "so that times of refreshing 
may come from the Lord, and that He may send 
the Christ," etc. Before the return of our Lord 
the bride must prepare herself . (Rev. 19.7,8.) The 
reader will observe that in speaking of Jesus, St. 
Peter says that the "heavens must receive," or 
"welcome," Him, as Rotherham renders it, "until 
the times of the restitution of all things." We ob- 
serve the following points: 

(1). Jesus is now in heaven. Furthermore He is 
to remain there UNTIL the time arrives for the 
restitution of all things. There can be, therefore, 
no restoration of all things until Jesus returns; this 
much is settled by the passage before us. He 
stays at the Father's right hand "until" the time 
for restitution shall arrive. When the day of re- 
making groaning creation shall dawn the Master 
will return. This passage deals a death-blow to 
the vagaries of Post-Millennialism. No renovated 
earth shall we see while the Master tarries, but 
when the due time arrives for the restoration He 
will return. 

(2). This is to be a "restitution." The Revised 
Version uses the word "restoration." So also 
Hind's Interlinear. Rotherham uses the word "es- 
tablishment," and renders the verse, "Unto whom 
indeed heaven must needs give welcome, until the 
times of due establishment of all things," etc. 
The word, in the original, which is thus differently 
rendered, is "apokatastaseos." It is rendered by 
Pickering, "restoration, restitution, re-establish- 



Earth Renewed and Perpetuated. 253 

ment; a complete cycle or evolution of the heav- 
ens, when the sun, moon and planets return to the 
same place." That we may see the significance of 
this word, let us notice its use in other places. It 
occurs in that passage where we have an account 
of the healing of the man with the withered hand. 
(Mark 3:5.) At the word of the Master, "He 
stretched it out, and his hand was restored whole as 
the oiner." As this withered arm was restored to 
its native health and strength, so shall our earth 
be. The same passage occurs, and the word has 
the same significance, in Luke 6:10. At one time 
a blind man was brought to Jesus for healing. The 
Master laid His hands upon his eyes and bade him 
look up, and "he was restored (apokatestathe) and 
saw every man clearly." (Mark 8:25.) What a 
wonderful work this was to the blind man, and also 
to him of the withered arm. Likewise glorious 
shall be the time when the Master shall lay the 
hand of His healing power upon the withered arm 
and sightless orbs of groaning creation; then vis- 
ions celestial, and health divine, shall supersede 
the present condition of vanity, groaning, sighing 
and corruption. Now, Paul tells us that the blight 
has fallen on the "whole creation," and Peter de- 
clares that the restoration is for "all things/' As 
the curse has reached not only man, but beast; not 
only animate life, but the inanimate earth, so shall 
the deliverance. The freedom must be commen- 
surate with the bondage, or the work is incomplete. 
The deliverance must be equal to the enslavement, 
or the emancipation is imperfect and unsatisfao 



254 The Renewed Earth. 

tory. Christ must destroy the works of the devil, 
or His mission is a failure. Satan has paralyzed 
the earth, Christ shall restore and revivify it. He 
cannot do otherwise, for He has pledged Himself 
to undo the works of the devil. In fact, He de- 
clares directly, "Behold I make all things new." 
(Rev. 21:5.) Can preaching — the use of present 
agencies alone — renovate the very earth and even 
lift the curse from the very dumb brutes and from 
storm-shaken, thunder-riven creation? Absurd! 
These things shall be accomplished, however, by 
the conquering Christ — when He comes. 

V. Population Continues. 

Does the New Testament sustain our argument 
for the extension of the population of this earth? 
Will children be born and families be reared in the 
renewed earth, even after the Judgment? I think 
so. 

1. Is not the thought of the continuation of the 
population of earth embraced in the text that 
promises the "restoration of all things?" What 
was the original condition? Did it not embrace a 
man and wife, and were they not under a command 
to "multiply and replenish the earth?" (Gen. 
1:28.) And would not their offspring have been 
deathless had not sin entered the world? To burn 
up the earth would not be a restoration. To peo- 
ple it only with risen and non-marriageable, non- 
productive beings, would not be to restore its 
Edenic condition. There can be no restitution that 
will not involve the thought of progeny. Human- 
ity was made originally a self-multiplying race, 



Earth Renewed and Perpetuated. 255 

without sin, without death, without any of the evils 
that have afflicted it since the introduction of sin. 
The re-establishment, or restoration, must neces- 
sarily give us back such a condition of things as 
prevailed prior to the first transgression. 

"But," says one, "this is contradicted by the 
language of Jesus when He said that in that world 
"they neither marry nor are given in marriage." 
Not by any means. The words of Jesus refer to 
those who have died and been raised from the dead, 
but that of which I speak has reference to the con- 
tinuance of the race as it is at present, excluding 
sin and all its effects. For example, God destroyed 
the antediluvian world, except the family of Noah. 
These were transferred across the flood and con- 
tinued the population of the earth. In like man- 
ner, those who are living and true to Jesus after 
the Millennium, those who do not fall away in 
Satan's final onslaught against Christ and the be- 
loved city, will be renovated in their natures, 
transferred across the fiery ordeal of the Judgment 
day, and transplanted in the new earth, under con- 
ditions like those in which Adam and Eve were 
placed in the garden. Nothing short of this could 
be a restoration of all things. To cut off the pop- 
ulation and progeny of the earth, as soon as it is 
wrenched from the galling bondage of Satan, would 
seem to us a short-sighted movement, and unlike 
the great Creator, who utilizes and makes fruitful 
everything that comes under His hand. 

2. "The habitable earth to come." 

In the Epistle to the Hebrews (2:5), there is a 



256 The Renewed Earth. 

passage that has special force in the Greek. Its 
full meaning does not appear in the King James' 
Version. It might be literally rendered, ' 'For not 
to angels did He subject the habitable world which 
is to come, of which we speak. "Rotherham's ren- 
dering is as follows: "For not unto messengers 
hath He subjected the coming habitable earth of 
which we are speaking." The Greek word ren- 
dered "world" here is "oikoumenen" Its only 
definition in Pickering is "the habitable earth." 
The lexicographer refers us, however, from this 
word to "oikio" which he defines "to inhabit, to 
have for an abode; to have a home to live in; in- 
transitively, to dwell in, to rule or govern a family 
or state;" among many other definitions of this 
word he adds, "to be inhabited, to be regulated, 
governed, well inhabited." The same passage oc- 
curs in many other Scriptures. Note the following 
example. (Matt. 24:14), "This gospel of the king- 
dom shall be preached in all the world" — oikou- 
mene, the inhabited earth— "for a testimony to all 
the nations." Again, in Luke 21:26, we read of 
men's hearts failing them for fear of those things 
that are coming on the "oikoumene" habitable 
earth. And in (Rev. 3:10) the Lord promises to 
the church in Philadelphia, "I will keep thee 
from the hour of temptation, which is about to come 
upon the 'oikoumenes holes,'' the whole habitable 
world." Now, it is perfectly clear that the wrath of 
God is aimed at the "habitable earth," rather than 
the uninhabited portions of it. His judgments are 
directed against the sins of men. Let us consider 



Earth Renewed and Perpetuated. 257 

this passage in Hebrews. The simple teaching of 
it is, that the world, in its coming condition, is to 
be habitable, and that it is not to be made subject 
to angels, but to Jesus as "the Son of man." If 
the reader will kindly study the connection, he will 
find in the 8th verse of this chapter this language, 
"For in that He put all in subjection under Him 
(Christ) He left nothing that is not put under 
Him, but now we see not yet all things put under 
Him." The apostle's argument is, that the world 
belongs to Jesus, that the Father has pledged to 
Him its sovereignty. But he calls our attention 
to the fact that it has not yet acknowledged His 
rulership, but that there is a coming age or 
dispensation, an li oikoumene" a habitable earth, 
which shall be made subject to Him. Then 
there will be no rebellion, there will be no 
sinner stiffening his neck against the com- 
mandments of God, or raising his hand against 
the authority of the Christ. This is not in 
our present "kosmos," or world, as it now exists, 
for it is under the devil as its prince and ruler. It 
points rather to a world under other conditions, 
renewed, regenerated and perfectly subjeot to its 
rightful Lord. It will not belong to angels or dis- 
embodied spirits, but to the exalted Christ and His 
risen and enthroned saints. (Isa. 32:1; Zech. 14:9.) 
Then our prayer, so long offered, so slowly an- 
swered, apparently, shall end in full fruition, and 
His will shall be done upon earth as it is in heaven. 
(Matt, 6:10.) 

3. "The Generation of the Age of the Ages." 
1/ 



258 The Renewed Earth. 

That there will be increasing population in the 
new earth is confirmed by a passage in the writings 
of Paul (Eph. 3:21), "Unto' Him be the glory in the 
church and in Christ Jesus, unto all generations, 
forever and ever." (Revised Version.) Strangely 
enough the word "generations" does not appear in 
the common version; but it is in the Greek, as any 
who can read it may see for themselves; it appears 
also, as we have shown, in the Revised Version. 
Rotherham's rendering of the passage is thus, 
"Unto Him be the glory in the assembly and in 
Christ Jesus — unto all the generations of the Age 
of Ages. The word rendered "generation" in the 
Greek is "geneas" which is the root of our English 
word. Now, here is an inspired declaration that in 
the age of ages there will be "generations" who 
will give glory to God, i. e., generations of holy, 
God-serving people. But there can be no genera- 
tions where there are no births, and thus the 
apostle, by the word of inspiration, settles the 
question beyond controversy, confirming our argu- 
ments and opening to the eye of faith a vista of 
eternal glory, teeming with uncounted millions of 
holy parents and children, serving God and giving 
glory to the Lamb. 

Paul speaks (in Eph. 1:10) of the "dispensation 
of the fullness of times" in which Christ will 
"gather together in one, all things." Rotherham 
renders it "an administration of the fullness of the 
season," and this rendering is borne out by other 
scholars. Now, "administration" indicates govern- 
ment, and government necessitates subjects, so 



Earth Renewed and Perpetuated. 259 

there is to be in the fullness of times, in the com- 
ing habitable earth, a government of Christ over 
continued generations, in which God shall be 
glorified. 

All this confirms and elucidates the arguments 
made from the Old Testament. It throws addi- 
tional light upon God's covenant with Abraham. 
We see how it may be "everlasting," and how the 
patriarch's offspring may in the coming generations 
of the new earth outnumber the "stars of the 
skies," the "sands" of the seashore, and even the 
"dust of the earth." If we recognize the Bible as 
inspired, if it speaks to us with authority, if itout- 
weighs the creeds of men and the theories of the 
uninspired, we must confess that the outlook for 
the earth is very glorious in the light of these in- 
vestigations; far more so than under that short- 
sighted teaching which proposes that all things 
shall terminate, and the earth be destroyed, at the 
coming of Christ. 

There is one beautiful thing about the thought 
before us. It vindicates God against the rash and 
foolish charges of infidelity. Men have sometimes 
in their hatred of God asked, "Why should He 
create a world knowing at the time that men were 
liable to fall into sin and the bulk of them travel 
the broad way to perdition?" They have said that 
He was either not wise enough to know the out- 
come, or so cruel and heartless as not to even care 
though the bulk of His creatures should drop into 
a never-ending hell. But, in our present studies, 
we find that the devil's time on earth is short, that. 



260 The Renewed Earth. 

compared with the uncounted myriads of earth,, 
who shall serve God fully, without a sin or sorrow, 
in the renewed earth, those who are destroyed in 
the present condition of things, are but as a drop in 
the bucket. They are exceedingly few compared 
with the mighty host who shall serve God faith- 
fully and glorify Him forever in the marvelous 
future of our earth. Let us praise the wisdom and 
goodness of God. 

VI. When will these things be? 

This question is so thoroughly answered in other 
pages that we need give but little attention here. 
We have already shown that the present condition 
of the world is evil, and that its hope is in the 
return of Christ. Observe the following points: 

(1.) This age is evil — Satan is its prince and god. 
Hence perfect holiness cannot be accomplished 
among all nations till the age terminates and a bet- 
ter is inaugurated. 

(2.) It is called the "regeneration/' (Matt. 
19:28.) That is, it is the "re-birth" of the earth, 
which occurs at the time when Christ shall 
sit on the throne of His glory and His apostles with 
Him. (Rev. 20:4.) 

(3.) It is at the "manifestation of the sons of 
God" for which creation is yet groaning. (Rom. 
8:19-23. This manifestation of His saints is when 
He is manifested. (Col. 3:4.) Then they shall be 
like Him. (1 John 3:2,3.) Until then, "corruption 
and vanity" and "groaning" and "travail" con- 
tinue. 

(4.) Through this age the horn tramples the 



Earth Renewed and Perpetuated. 261 

saints under foot, and prevails against them. (Dan. 
7 :21, 22. ) This evil power continues till the appear- 
ing of Christ, who shall destroy him. (2 Thess. 
2:8,9.) There is a beautiful passage corroborative 
of all this in 1 Chron. 16:30-33. 

"Fear before him, all the earth; the world also shall be 
stable, that it be not moved. 

"Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice; and let 
men say among the nations, The Lord reigneth. 

"Let the sea roar, and the fullness thereof; let the fields 
rejoice, and all that is therein. 

"Then shall the trees of the wood sing out at the presence 
of the Lord, because he cometh to judge the earth." 

The reader will observe that the passage points 
to the time when the Lord "cometh to judge the 
earth." Then the heavens are to be "glad," while 
the earth is to * 'rejoice. " Instead of an annihilated 
earth we read, "the world also shall be stable, 
that it be not moved," and then it is that the Lord 
"reigneth" "among the nations." David in this 
passage is careful to remind us of the "covenant 
which God made with Abraham," and "confirmed 
the same to Jacob for a law, and to Israel for an 
everlasting covenant, saying, Unto thee will I give 
the land of Canaan." (Verses 16-18.) Here we 
have our memory refreshed concerning the "ever- 
lasting covenant" and its relation to "the land of 
Canaan," and all this in connection with the Lord's 
coming and Judgment. What more need we? 



262 The Renewed Earth. 



CHAPTER XIII. 
Effect on the Animal Creation* 



Will the animal world share in the benefits of the 
restoration? They certainly will. The Scriptures 
seem to be explicit on this point. 

1. They share in the curse. This is manifest from 
Scripture and from observation. They are cer- 
tainly involved in the effects of the fall, as set forth 
by St. Paul, when he tells us that "the whole cre- 
ation groaneth and travaileth in pain until now." 
(Rom. 8:22.) They are a part of the creation, and 
hence are among those who are made subject to 
vanity, groaning and corruption. No sensible man 
would attempt, it seems, to argue that they are 
exempt from the curse in the light of this state- 
ment of the apostle, and in the light of all the 
facts. 

This is further confirmed by the deluge, both 
sides of the question, the curse and the redemp- 
tion, being illustrated by the Noachan flood. Moses 
tells us that they were represented in the ark, for 
we read that, "Of clean beasts, and of beasts that 
are not clean, and of fowls, and of everything that 
creepeth upon the earth, there went in two and 
two unto Noah in the ark, the male and the female, 
as God had commanded Noah." (Gen. 7:8,9.) Thus 
they were delivered from the destruction. On the 



Effect on the Animal Creation. 263 

other hand, the remainder of the brute creation 
perished in the flood. The ark is a type of the 
coming day when God shall transfer His people 
from the earth under its present mortal conditions 
into the new earth, wherein there shall be no more 
death. How He will save them from the confla- 
gration of the great day we know not, but of this 
we are assured, the Almighty is abundantly able 
to perform everything He shall undertake. He 
delivered both man and beast in Noah's day, such 
as were accepted of Him, and destroyed the re- 
mainder. As He has done in the past, so shall He 
likely do in the future; at any rate, we are assured 
in revelation that the new earth will contain an- 
imal life, and that these dumb creatures will share 
in the blessings of the New Era. God's covenant 
with Noah embraced the dumb brute as well as 
man. He said, "I establish my covenant with you, 
and with your seed after you; and with every liv- 
ing creature that is with you, of the fowl, of the 
cattle, and of every beast of the earth." Concern- 
ing the bow which He set in the clouds, the Lord 
declares that when He shall see it He will remem- 
ber His covenant, "which," says He, "is between 
me and you and every living creature." (Gen. 
9:9-15.) The covenant is said to be everlasting and 
to be "between God and every living creature of 
all flesh that is upon the earth." (Verse 16.) 

Concerning the relation of the Noachan covenant 
to the animal creation, G. H. Pember, an intelli- 
gent and thoughtful writer, has many things to 
say. He calls attention to the Cherubim, as de- 



264 The Renewed Earth. 

scribed by the prophet Ezekiel. (Chap. 1.) These 
wonderful ' 'living creatures" were "in the form of 
a man; that is, they displayed the body and up- 
right position of a man. But every one had four 
faces: The first face was that of a man, the second 
that of a lion, the third that of an ox, the fourth 
that of an eagle. Now, the lion, the ox and the 
eagle are the representatives of the beasts of the 
field, of cattle, and of the fowls of the air. Hence, 
from this vision arose the saying, 'four are the 
highest in creation:' the lion among the beasts, the 
ox among the cattle, the eagle among the fowls, 
and man above these; but God is the highest of 
all. Thus the Cherubim and the accessories with 
which they were surrounded seemed to have been 
made up of the highest forms of the animal and 
vegetable kingdoms, and to have been representa- 
tives of 'creature-life' in its perfection, and in 
obedience to and union with its Creator/' (Earth's 
Earliest Ages, 169,170.) Elsewhere this learned 
writer says, "During the Six Days God created 
six tribes of living creatures to inhabit the earth — 
the fish, the fowls of the air, the cattle, the creep- 
ing things, the beasts of the earth, and man. Of 
these, the first five were placed under the dominion 
of man; but three of them were subsequently dis- 
tinguished from the others on two memorable oc- 
casions Now, if we observe that the four 

tribes, especially included in the covenant — man 
the fowls, the cattle, and the beasts of the earth — 
are also those which are indicated by the forms of 
the Cherubim, we shall readily perceive the mean- 



Effect on the Animal Creation. 265 

ing of the latter. They stand before God as the 
representatives of the four great earth-tribes, with 
which He has made a covenant that He will never 
again destroy them utterly from the face of the 
earth TDhe Cherubim represent all the crea- 
tures which God has pledged to save." "But if 
the great Creator has entered into a covenant that 
He will never destroy the four earth-tribes, there 
is also of necessity much more involved in such a 
promise. Other scriptures, in drawing back the 
curtain of futurity, disclose the glad truth that 
times of refreshing and restitution are approach- 
ing, when earth will be freed from the curse, and 
its inhabitants once more restored to innocence and 
peace. Since, therefore, the four tribes are to be 
preserved through this glorious age, they must 
also participate in its conditions, or, in other 
words, be redeemed from the consequences of sin." 
(Ibid, pages 174,175,176). After showing that the 
Cherubim occupy a position upon the Ark, in close 
proximity with the Shechinah and just over the 
mercy-seat, he says, "Thus they set forth in won- 
drous symbol the redemption and reconciliation of 
man and beast, thro' the merits and death of the 
Lord Jesus." 

Once again we quote this excellent writer, "When 
thorns and thistles sprang out of the earth, and its 
fertility was restrained, then a curse affected the 
animal kingdom also. There appeared in it a de- 
praved and even a savage nature, which ultimate- 
ly, though not, perhaps, in antediluvian times, 
reached its climax in a cruel thirst for blood, and 



266 The Renewed Earth. 

completely changed the organization of some spe- 
cies at least. How this change was brought about, 
it is, of course, useless to speculate, for the hand 
of the Almighty wrought it." After giving sev- 
eral reasons for this position, Mr. Pember calls 
attention to the prophecy in Isaiah 11:6-9, and 
adds, "When sin has been suppressed by the return 
of the second Adam, the curse shall lose its power, 
the savage nature of the beast of the field shall 
disappear, the carnivora shall become gramnivora, 
the poisonous shall lay aside their venom; all shall 
be restored to their first condition, and be again as 
when God pronounced the primal blessing, Gen. 
1:30," (Ibid, pages 34,35.) 

A PROPHETIC VIEW. 

Isaiah is recognized as the evangelical prophet. 
There is a depth, a beauty and power, a fullness 
and freshness about his utterances through which 
they may well claim kinship with the New Testa- 
ment. He makes us feel the power of spiritual life,, 
and holds up before us the conquering and victori- 
ous Christ. Beautiful is his picture of the new 
earth, especially as it relates to the animal cre- 
ation. 

'•The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard 
shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and, the young lion 
and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. 

"And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones 
shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like 
the ox. 

"And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, 
and the weaned child shall put his hand on the oockat-rice'a 
den. 



Effect on the Animal Creation. 267 

"They shall not hurt nor destroy in eA\ my holy mountain: 
for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as 
the waters cover the sea." (Isa. 11:6-9.) 

There are a few points we would like to fasten 
upon the reader's mind. (1) Here is a direct refer- 
ence to the animal world in contradistinction from 
the human. He mentions the wolf, the lamb, the 
leopard, the kid, the calf, the young lion, and the 
stall-fed ox, the fatling. Not only this, bub he calls 
attention to the cow, the bear, and even serpents 
of the deadliest kind, as the asp and the cockatrice, 
or, as we might put it, in more familiar form, the 
moccasin and rattlesnake. Now, some spiritualize 
all this away, and would have us believe that the 
entire passage refers to the improvement of man, 
to his spiritual restoration. Folly! Why should 
men thus deal with God's Word? If it does not 
say what it means, and mean what it says, then we 
are left to the mercy of higher critics and lower 
critics, of false preachers, visionary interpreters 
and rank infidels. Swedenborg's visionary inter- 
pretations of Scripture have as much foundation 
in fact and in truth as many would-be orthodox 
preachers. Many of our Post-Millennial preach- 
ers spiritualize away the prophecies till they have 
no definite teachings, but are forced into the serv- 
ice of all kinds of self-appointed interpreters and 
fanciful interpretations. By every token, the pas- 
sage under consideration promises deliverance to 
the beasts and cattle, which are described by Paul 
as suffering and groaning in travail to this day. 
The little child who appears upon the scene repre- 



268 The Renewed Earth. 

sects the human element, and, without a weapon 
of the sportsman's, he appears as perfect master 
of the situation, because of the change, divinely 
wrought, in the erstwhile devouring beasts of the 
forest. 

(2) That population and increase continue, both 
with man and beast, is apparent. Here we find, in 
the human, "the little child" and "the sucking 
child," while in the animal world we observe "the 
cow and the calf," the one indicating mature life 
and the other immature. This scene presents the 
leopard and the kid, the one evidently grown and 
the other young and immature. We find here, also, 
the continuation of farm- life. The lion eats straw; 
— and what is straw? Nothing bears this name as 
it grows in the field. Straw is the stalk of the 
wheat, oats, rye and other grain after it has been 
threshed. And so here we have a farmer cultivat- 
ing his lands, threshing his grain, and supplying 
the straw to the lion and the ox, who eat it side by 
side. Wonderful is the prophecy, inspiring the 
picture, glorious the outlook for this old sin- 
blighted, long-suffering earth! Is this not a beau- 
tiful scene? Imagine a shaggy young lion lying 
down in the front yard, while by his side lies an 
innocent and helpless calf, pillowing its head in the 
mane of the monarch of the forest. Presently a 
little child steps out into the yard, pulls at the calf 
till he gets it upon its feet, then tugs at the shaggy 
mane of Leo, and with his right hand on the mane 
of the lion and his left about the neck of the little 
calf, he toddles out through the lane and down the 



Effect on the Animal Creation. 269 

highway. Just out in the edge of the field, we find, 
a crawling babe has reached the den of the cocka- 
trice and is reaching into it a chubby hand to draw 
out the one-time dangerous serpent. How we 
shrink from these things, so full of danger as they 
are to-day. But in the glorious time that is com- 
ing death shall be no more, while universal peace 
shall rest upon creation, and the balmy breath of 
God Himself shall supply the elixir of endless life 
to man and beast. Elsewhere, the prophet gives 
another touch, with his future-portraying pen, to 
this scene. (Chapter 65:19-25.) But we need not 
enlarge. 

ARE ANIMALS IMMORTAL? 

What we have said, thus far, refers to the state 
of the new earth, as perpetuated from the present 
condition, with the restoring hand of God upon it. 
The question we raise now is of a different nature. 
The doctrine of the Resurrection is very full of 
comfort and hope to earth's toiling saints. We be- 
lieve that all men who die will be raised. We do 
not accept the dogma of the annihilation of the 
wicked, nor can we find scriptural foundation for 
the idea of soul-sleeping, taught by some Ad- 
ventists. All the dead shall be raised. Such is 
the teaching of Him, who ' 'spake as never man 
spake. " (Jno. 5 :28, 29. ) But will the dumb brutes 
share in the resurrection? Will animals be raised? 
Let it be distinctly understood that we do not dog- 
matize at this point. We do not know. There seem 
to be, however, a number of reasons which strong- 



270 The Renewed Earth. 

ly suggest it. They may not amount to a demon- 
stration, but we submit them for what they are 
worth. To the writer the doctrine seems plaus- 
ible, for the following reasons: 

(1). As already shown, the animal world suffers 
the consequences of the fall. They share in the 
travail, the groaning and anguish of creation. In 
fact, they suffer specially at the hands of their 
liege-lords, the fallen sons of Adam.- Men, as a 
general thing, show little mercy to the dumb brutes. 
Many of them in the forest and field are shot 
down ruthlessly, or, worse still, maimed without 
warrant or reason. Of the domestic animals, many 
are overworked and underfed; they are punished 
unnecessarily, driven without mercy, and when 
worn out in the service of man are frequently 
turned out without shelter or sustenance to starve, 
How often have we seen a stalwart man riding a 
mere stack of bones, a horse half starved, and yet 
his merciless rider will hitch him up in the storms 
of winter, or the burning suns of summer, for hours 
together, without shelter, food or water. They are 
sometimes driven till they fall in their tracks, or 
nearly so, while their heads are tied back by check- 
reins till their nerves are racked and fired with 
pain, as those of men were formerly, in a darker 
age, from the stocks and pillory. Mother birds 
are shot out of their nests, and their young left to 
starve, that the vanity of proud women may be 
satisfied. No woman with the tender heart at- 
tributed to her sex should ever countenance the 
cruel check-rein by driving behind a horse so pun- 



Effect on the Animal Creation. 271 

Ished, or sanction the heartless butchery of birds 
by wearing them on her hat. Truly, all such is 
' 'vanity and vexation of spirit." From all this we 
see that the helpless dumb creation about us is 
suffering, not only their part of the direct effects 
of the fall, but indirectly at the hands of man, in- 
justice being added to injury, and the bitterness of 
the fall being doubled upon their defenseless 
heads. By moral influence and by the strong arm 
of law God's helpless creatures should secure their 
heaven-given rights. For this let every Christian 
labor and pray. If they suffer from the fall of the 
first Adam, may they not share in the resurrection- 
life of the second Adam? 

(2.) Their immortality is strongly suggested by 
qualities that are very human like. Some animals 
manifest a good degree of intelligence. That they 
have memory is apparent to all; the dog, the cow, 
the horse, the elephant and other animals of much 
less value show a retentive memory. Many of 
them display a large degree of affection. The 
faithful dog will die by his master, and sometimes 
they have been even known to lick the hand that 
was mercilessly taking away their life. In fact dogs 
have been known to die of grief and a broken heart 
at the grave of their master, refusing to the end to 
be comforted. In some animals there is a strong 
spirit of resentment, elephants, especially, having 
been known to take revenge on those at whom they 
felt aggrieved long after the injury was perpe- 
trated. Not only do they show intelligence, 
memory, affection, resentment and other likequali- 



272 The Renewed Earth. 

ties, but they frequently display a considerable 
measure of conscience. What could afford a better 
illustration of it than "a suck-egg dog"? Having 
learned that his master disapproves his course, he 
will, nevertheless, persist in stealing eggs, and 
then will confess his guilt and manifest knowledge 
of the wrong by evading the company of his mas- 
ter, or by slipping around with his tail between 
his legs. Whence all these human-like qualities, 
except there be a soul-life, if not immortal, at least 
close akin to the never-dying soul of man? 

(3.) God's dealings with them indicate a recog- 
nition of soul-life, (a) He made them first inno- 
cent, having pronounced them with the rest of 
creation, "good," yea, "very good." (Gen. 1:25-31.) 
(b.) His covenant embraces them, as we have al- 
ready shown. (Gen. 9:12-16.) (c) It is evident that 
the Almighty spoke to them, as well as to Noah, 
concerning the flood. They appear to have come 
into the ark under Divine direction, as certainly as 
the Patriarch who built the great boat. Noah does 
not seem to have found it necessary to go out and 
gather them in. (d) That they were harmonious 
among themselves in the day of their creation is 
shown by the fact that at the Divine command 
they marched together before Adam, that he might 
give them their names. They did not devour each 
other on this occasion. (Gen. 2:19, 20.) After- 
ward, under the curse resulting from the fall of 
Adam, they learned to destroy each other. But 
the spirit of harmony was restored, evidently, to 
those of them that entered the Ark. How could 



Effect on the Animal Creation. 273 

Noah have taken care of all the beasts, clean and 
unclean, that were collected on that occasion, had 
they been given to the destructiveness which char- 
acterizes them to-day? They evidently possessed 
the Edenic spirit during their residence in the Ark. 
This same harmlessness will be restored to them 
in the new earth, as we have already found in the 
study of Isaiah's prophecy. Does this not strongly 
argue a possession of a soul-life which may be 
touched by the Spirit of God as is the nature of 
man? Their vicious natures will be thoroughly 
renovated, so that the lion and the lamb shall lie 
down together, and a little child shall lead them. 
This certainly strongly suggests the idea of im- 
mortality. 

(4) The Hebrew word for soul. 

The writer is not acquainted with the Hebrew 
language, but is informed by those who claim to 
know, that the word, "Nephesh," is used in the Old 
Testament to represent the soul-life of both man 
and beast. In fact, some years since I read a doc- 
ument by a soul-sleeping Adventist, who denies 
the immortality of man, except he be regenerated. 
His chief argument was based on this Hebrew 
word. He gave many Scriptures to establish his 
contention that the same word applies alike to man 
and beast. Claiming the mortality of beasts as an 
accepted fact, he argues strongly the mortality of 
the soul of the natural man. The strength of his 
argument lies in the general concession of the mor- 
tality of animals. I do not see how a man who 
denies immortality to the lower creatures could 

18 



274 The Renewed Earth. 

meet his argument. But, for my part, I would 
challenge proof of his main proposition, Are all 
animals necessarily mortal? I do not dogmatize 
at this point as I have said. But since our Ad- 
ventist brother assumes their mortality, and from 
this as a premise argues the mortality of men, the 
burden of proof falls upon him, and we await with 
interest the substantiation of his position. I can 
not concede it, and so demand the proof. Can it 
be supplied? To the writer's mind, man certainly 
is immortal, with a large probability in favor of 
the immortality of the brute creation. 

5. Argument from analogy. 

We know that man will live again. The doc- 
trine of the resurrection is unmistakably taught in 
the written Word of God. In like manner, we see 
a resurrection in the vegetable world. How is it 
perpetuated? Simply by resurrection. The seed 
is planted, dies, when lo! out of its death springs 
the new tree or vegetable. (1 Cor. 15:35-38.) The 
corn or wheat of last year decays in the ground, 
and yet out of the death of the old comes forth the 
living stalk and grain of this year. This is noth- 
ing else than resurrection and, by it, the propaga- 
tion of the species. Now, if man, who is above the 
animal creation, higher in the scale, is the subject 
of resurrection, and if in like manner the vegeta- 
ble world, which is lower in the scale than the 
dumb brute, if these both are raised, pray tell us 
why the animal should not live again. It would 
seem exceeding strange to raise man, who is far 
above the animals, and the various species of the 



Effect on the Animal Creation. 275 

vegetable kingdom, which is as far below them, 
and yet deny resurrection to the sentient creatures 
which lie between, as the faithful horse, the ser- 
viceable ox, and the affectionate dog. 

6. God as a utilitarian. 

When we consider the Divine method of careful- 
ly saving and utilizing everything, we find a strong 
argument for the resurrection of the dumb brute. 
The great Creator seems to make the most of every- 
thing at His hand. Indeed, He seems to have pro- 
vided in all creation, as in the miracle of the loaves 
and fishes, for the saving of the fragments, "that 
nothing be lost." Even the decay and refuse which 
is thrown upon the ground enriches it and returns 
to us in improved crops. The harvests likewise 
feed the animal, and the animal feeds the man, and 
and the man in his time returns to the ground, from 
whence he was taken. God's utilization of every- 
thing is seen in the fact that the waters teem with 
life, the atmosphere is fully occupied, yea, the very 
ground beneath our feet is the home of vermin and 
insects innumerable. The Almighty makes the 
best possible use of all things, so far as our knowl- 
edge and judgment extend. Many believe, with 
the writer, that all the stars and planets are inhab- 
ited. It would seem to fit into this thought. Now, 
the question arises, "Has God made all He can of 
the dumb brute, when it dies?'' Will not the prin- 
ciple we are considering justify its continued exist- 
ence? It would seem so. 

7. Many believe in the immortality of animals. 
Methodists remember that John Wesley preached 



276 The Renewed Earth. 

a sermon on this subject. I have not read it in 
twenty years, and hence do not remember his ar- 
guments. But it should count for something with 
intelligent people to know that this brainy and 
mighty man of God believed that animals would 
rise from the dead. Not only so, but vast multi- 
tudes are of the same opinion. Geo. T. Angell, of 
Boston, who founded "The Humane Education 
Society ," which has done so much for the ameliora- 
tion of the condition of our long-suffering dumb 
friends, in his Autobiography, says concerning 
this subject, "The greatest scientist we ever had 
on this continent, Agazziz, believed not only in the 
immortality of man, but also in some form of future 
life, even for the lower intelligences." He also 
adds that, "the sacred books and religious beliefs 
and recorded spiritual experiences of nearly all 
nations and ages teach it." 

8. The benefit of this view. 

One may ask, "What do you hope to gain 
by preaching that animals rise from the dead?" 
Much every way. (a) It gives us a higher 
estimate of creation. Through this line of 
thought we realize more of God's interest in us, 
and of His purpose in creation. He who has 
stamped immortality upon the souls even of the 
dumb brutes about us, will surely take a lasting 
interest in His higher creature, man. (b) From 
this we see the importance of mercy. No man can 
afford to abuse a poor and helpless animal, for it 
may face him at the Judgment. The mistreated 
horse, the starved cow, the needlessly-punished 



Effect on the Animal Creation. 277 

dog, cat, or chicken may meet its persecutor in 
the day of the great assize. Now, any teaching 
that will cultivate tenderness of heart and beget a 
spirit of mercy is certainly fraught with great 
value to man. We need bands of mercy in all our 
churches and Sunday-schools. Parents and chil- 
dren, alike, should be taught to be kind to every 
creature of God. The kicks and cuffs, the over- 
loading and half -feeding of our animal friends is a 
sin against God, as well as against them. I wish 
here to enter my protest against the cruel check- 
rein, so frequently used upon horses. It is my 
honest conviction that no check-rein should be 
used at all, except in the case of a vicious animal. 
It is a cruel and unnecessary thing, an engine of 
torture, demanded only by pride and selfishness. 
That which makes the heart of man more tender 
improves him, hence we get, (c) A reflex benefit, 
an improvement of our own spiritual natures, a 
greater likeness to the tender heart of the loving 
Christ. God lives forever, man lives to die, but to 
be raised in the morning of the great Day. And 
so, most likely, shall our animal friends, that have 
suffered in silence about us, rise in the glories of 
immortality. If the holy Father so wills, let us 
welcome them to an inheritance in the lot of the 
blessed. 



278 The Renewed Earth. 

CHAPTER XIV. 
Objections Considered. 



Of course, the positions assumed in this book 
will encounter many objections. We will examine 
a few of them — the most salient. 

A chief hindrance to the reception of these truths 
is prejudice. Perhaps this is not exactly the word 
we need. What we refer to is the preconceived 
opinions of men, out of which of course grows 
their prejudgment, which is the simple meaning of 
prejudice. There is extant an opinion that all 
things earthly shall come to an end, not only the 
evil, but the good, save, of course, the spirits of 
men, which it is conceded will live and be united 
in the resurrection with their risen bodies. There 
are, of course, some scriptures that seem to incul- 
cate this idea. Especially as they appear in our 
common English version, there are some that seem 
to teach strongly the utter destruction of the earth. 
We will examine a few of these passages. The ar- 
guments made will apply to such texts as we do not 
consider in this chapter. 

1. Heaven and earth shall pass away. (Matt. 
5:18.) What is meant by "heaven" in this connec- 
tion? Is it the throne of God? (Acts 7:49.) Can 
we conceive the thought that God will destroy His 
own holy, undefiled throne, because of the sins of 



Objections Considered. 279 

men? Of course not. Heaven is uncontaininated, 
and will ever be. A very similar record to the 
passage before us occurs in the Apocalypse, "I 
saw a great white throne, and Him that sat on it, 
from whose face the earth and the heavens fled 
away." Now, here we have God's throne left after 
the apostle witnessed the fleeing away of heaven 
and earth. Not only that, but still later we find 
"the sea" giving up "the dead which were in it," 
and Hades and death emptying their dead also for 
the Judgment. But if the literal earth had disap- 
peared there would be no sea to give up its dead. 
Hades also, which is simply the place of departed 
spirits, as used in this connection, is believed by 
many Bible students to be in the heart of the earth, 
but if the earth had literally been annihilated there 
would have been no Hades left. Furthermore, 
we read, "I John saw the holy city, New Jerusa- 
lem, coming down from God out of heaven." (Rev. 
22:2.) Now, here was a "heaven" that had not 
passed away, out of which comes the golden city. 
It is evident, therefore, that we might put too 
much stress upon the simple expression, found in 
this and other scriptures, concerning the ''passing 
away" of heaven and earth. 

Evidently in the Scriptures under consideration 
the term "heaven" simply stands for the elements 
surrounding our earth, as when we read of the 
"fowls of the heavens." (Rev. 19:17.) Now, if this 
heaven is to pass away, there must be a reason for 
it. What is this reason.? A careful student of the 
Word will evidently have no difficulty in making 



280 The Renewed Earth. 

answer. The heavens which pass away are sim- 
ply the elements connected with our earth, and 
which are under the curse with it. The storms of 
every kind — whirlwinds, hurricanes, cyclones — ■ 
all those things which grow out of the disturbed 
death-dealing elements. In Edenic conditions 
there could have been no storms, because that 
would have represented destruction and death. 
Just so surely as there was no death without sin, so 
there could have been no destructive storms and 
lightnings. We know that the very ground itself 
is cursed, bringing forth thorns and thistles. As 
the thorns and thistles to the earth are the deadly 
lightnings and destructive storms to the heavens. 
These things belong to the curse, and in the reno- 
vation they must pass away, for the redemption 
must be as wide in its effects as was the fall. But 
the earth was not made with the curse upon it, nor 
the heavens with destruction in them. As there 
was a holy, deathless world, with none of the evils 
resulting from sins, so it was surrounded with 
balmy, life- supporting elements which were 
charged with no death. Sin is the thing at which 
God is directing His judgments. That part of the 
earth which is involved in the curse shall pass 
away, and so with the heavens, but the redeemed 
and purified earth shall abide forever. 

2. This subject is well illustrated by a passage 
concerning the regeneration of an individual, his 
new birth, "If any one is in Christ, there is a new 
creation; the old things have passed away — lo, they 
have become new." (2 Cor. 5:17, Rotherham.) 



Objections Considered. 281 

How do we get this new creation, or, as the com- 
mon version has it, "creature." By the destruc- 
tion of the sinner? No, but by his renovation, his 
regeneration. Physically, socially, he is the same 
man, but, spiritually, he is created anew. If his 
name was John Smith before his conversion, we 
still know him as John Smith. If Sally Smith was 
his wife, in his unregenerate days, she still calls 
him husband, while the five little Smiths call him 
father. If he weighed 150 pounds as a sinner, he 
will still tip the beam at 150. Old things have 
passed away, but this refers to the evil things of 
his life — the swearing, gambling, lying, the bitter- 
ness of his spirit, the sinful elements of his char- 
acter. So there is a sense in which these old 
things have passed away, while yet there is a sense 
in which we have within the same man as before. 
Now this identical figure of the new birth, or re- 
generation, is used concerning the earth. (Matt. 
19:28.) The very word for regeneration — Greek, 
Palinggenesia — occurs here, as in the corresponding 
passage in Titus (Tit. 3:5), where it is used with 
reference to the spiritual regeneration of a man. 
This word is defined by Pickering, "A second 
birth, a renovation, as of nature in the spring of 
the year; a restoration to life; restoration, gen- 
erally as of one's rank, fortune; regeneration." 
Now, if the old life passes away and leaves you 
the same individual, but a new man, why may not 
the passing away of the old earth be simply its 
renovation, that we may have a new earth in place 
of the old? 



282 



The Renewed Earth. 



Have you ever seen a soul converted? The man, 
kneeling humbly in the dust, is crying to God; 
tears bedew his cheeks, his groans may be heard 
throughout the building, his penitence is deep, his 
agony intense and clearly manifest. He prays, 
friends join their petitions to his, faith prevails, the 
Spirit of God, sent forth from the upper heavens, 
touches his heart, and it melts into tenderness. On 
it is stamped the nature and name of the Christ. 
The penitent's groaning ceases, his tears are dried, 
his sorrow is changed into joy, smiles wreath his 
face and shouts of praise burst from his lips. 
Leaping to his feet in the exuberance of his new- 
found joy, he electrifies the audience with 
his shouts of praise. What has happened? 
Old things have passed away, and our friend 
is a new creature, a new creation in Christ 
Jesus. As we have thus seen the regenera- 
tion of a man, and our hearts have rejoiced in the 
sight, so to the beloved disciple in the lonely isle 
of Patmos, was a vision granted of the regenera- 
tion of the earth and its surrounding heaven. He 
beheld the old earth in its agony of remorse, in its 
sorrow and suffering, its shame and bitterness, its 
groaning and tears. Butlo! the Creator appears 
upon the scene, the old earth and the old heaven 
pass away, and in their place he beholds an earth 
made new, filled with righteousness and crowned 
with glory and light. The vision is true. What 
John witnessed in Patmos shall be fulfilled before 
the wondering gaze of earth's assembled mil- 
lions. 



Objections Considered. 283 

3. The fashion of this world passeth away. 
(1 Cor. 7:31; 1 John 2:17.) Exactly. This passage 
very beautifully illustrates the point we have made 
in the preceding passage. The word rendered 
"world" in this connection is "kosmos." It is 
used by Peter (1 Pet. 3:3) in the sense of adorn- 
ment. The women are here advised to wear sim- 
ple, plain apparel, an unworldly adornment, for 
Jesus' sake. This word means frequently the same 
as our word "clothing." Pickering defines it, 
"natural order, as of the universe, " "arrangement, 
regularity, discipline," "the world from its order 
and beauty," "the collective race of men, the 
wicked." Now, this is the earth that is to pass 
away, the fashion, the order, the condition of 
things in this present world. In the passages first 
examined, however, we have the word "#e", which 
represents the earth proper, but we have shown 
that it pertains to the diseased and corrupted con- 
dition of the earth. That condition which has be- 
fallen it since the apostasy of man; that which 
causes it to bring forth thorns and briers, disease 
and death, and which causes the heavens or at- 
mosphere around it to abound in lightnings and 
storms. In other words, all that portion of the earth 
and its paraphernalia upon which rests and out of 
which goes forth among men the effects of the 
curse. These shall pass away, that the new earth, 
abounding in its primal condition of Edenic loveli- 
ness and beauty, may be laid bare to the gaze of 
men, and be subjected to their use and enjoyment 
forever. 



284 The Renewed Earth. 

This whole question is beautifully illustrated by 
the resurrection. God made man innocent, pure 
and deathless, but with the entrance of sin came 
death. Now, God did not annihilate man, did not 
blot him out of existence. He simply allows death 
to lay man's body low in the grave where it crum- 
bles back to mother earth, from whence it was 
taken. Then by divine power He touches the fallen 
structure, resuscitates the lifeless form and brings 
the corruptible body of man back into incorrupti- 
bility, and gathers him to Himself arrayed in all 
the beauty, glory and loveliness of the fully re- 
deemed. Thus, by resurrection, God undoes the 
work of death and restores the creature, who was 
made subject to vanity, to the image and glory of 
His only begotten Son. The new body is made, at 
least in a measure, out of the old. In like manner, 
the earth may go into its grave of sorrow and 
shame, but it shall come up in resurrection life 
and beauty, as the inheritance of Him who is the 
* 'bright and morning star," and, with Him, of the 
meek, who shall inherit the earth, 

4. ''Time shall be no longer." (Rev. 10:6.) This, 
and a kindred passage, "The end of the days" 
(Dan. 12:13) is considered by some a very formidable 
objection to the position we have set forth. But a 
little examination of the subject will show that the 
objection has no force. The Revised Version of 
the passage in Revelation retains in the body of the 
text, "There shall be time no longer, " but in the 
margin it would substitute the word "delay" for 
"time," so that it would read, "delay shall be no 



Objections Considered. 285 

longer." This reading is the one preferred by 
the American Committee of the Revision. Hind's 
Greek Interlinear also renders it, ' 'delay shall be 
no longer." And so Rotherham. From all this 
weight of authority, we see that it is not an end of 
time, concerning which the angel speaks, but a 
simple declaration that God shall delay His judg- 
ments no longer, but shall proceed at once. Sim- 
ply this and nothing more. Just as when a sheriff 
says to the criminal, "Your time is up," so God 
says to the perverters of truth, the corrupters of 
earth, "The time of wrath has come; your time of 
falsehood and wickedness is up, 'delay shall be no 
longer.' " As to the passage in Daniel: It has no 
reference to an end of time, but to the fulfillment 
of certain predictions set forth by the prophet. An 
end of the days of waiting, of delay for the fulfill- 
ment of these things. 

5. "The Last day." (John 6:39.) Some think 
that this expression of the Master's indicates that 
there will be an end to time, and that the Judgment 
will be the last of all days. Now, this does not 
necessarily follow, as a little investigation will 
show. Peter informs us that a day with God is al- 
together different from what it is with us, that one 
of God s days is equal to a thousand years of ours. 
(2 Pet. 3:8.) A thousand of our years would amount 
to 365,000 days. Now, one of God's days equals 
this. We have shown that the judgment of the 
living involved one thousand years. Consequently, 
if the Millennium is itself called *'the last day," it 
yet involves more than 300,000 of our days. Hence, 



286 The Renewed Earth. 

the expression, "the last day," is a very indeter- 
minate quantity, to say the least. 

Then, again, if the reader will study the proph- 
ecies, he will find "the last days" spoken of in an 
altogether different manner in them. The prophet 
Isaiah (2:4) tells us that in the "last days" the 
mountain of the Lord's house shall be established 
and all nations shall flow unto it. This is a picture 
of the triumph of Christ and the spread of holiness 
throughout the earth. On the other hand, how- 
ever, Paul speaks of ' 'the last days" in a widely dif- 
ferent vein. He says, "In the last days perilous 
times shall come, men shall be lovers of their own 
selves having a form of godliness, but de- 
nying the power thereof . " Now, it is manifest that 
Paul and Isaiah speak of different conditions, even 
different dispensations, and yet each calls the time 
of which he writes the "last days." Paul evident- 
ly refers to the end of the Christian dispensation, 
the last days of the present age, or order of things. 

On the other hand, Isaiah overleaps the whole 
dispensation, or age in which we live, of which 
Satan is the god (2 Cor. 4:4), and the whole of 
which is evil (Gal. 1:4), — now he passes by this 
whole period and points to another, a different period 
or age, which he also terms "the last days." He 
doubtless has reference in this prophecy to the re- 
construction, to the time when earth shall be filled 
with the glory of God. Of course, there will come 
a last dispensation, and why? Because in it the 
world is brought back to its Edenic state, is 
made free from sin and all its dread ef- 



Objections Considered. 287 

fects, so that earth thus renewed may continue hap- 
py and undefiled forever. This then is an end- 
less day of blessing to our world, when not only 
men are raised from the dead, but the earth itself 
shall have undergone a renewal that is equivalent 
to a resurrection. It may be the last "day," and yet 
it does not indicate an end of time, but a day with 
no night, a day which is dependent, not on the 
material sun, for it fades away, while this last day 
draws its fadeless light, its endless glory, from the 
shining countenance of the King in His beauty. 

6. "The earth and the works therein shall be 
burned up." (2 Pet. 3:10.) This is apparently the 
most formidable objection to be found. If we can 
dispose of it, within bounds of truth and revela- 
tion, it would seem that we had well established 
our point. If the earth is to be literally burned up, 
reduced to ashes and cinders and these blown out 
into nothingness, then there is an end to contro- 
versy. Please observe the following points: 

(a). Even fire does not utterly annihilate any- 
thing. It decomposes; it reduces anything that is 
combustible to its original elements, simply this 
and nothing more. There remain after the fire all 
the elements which were originally used in the con- 
struction of that which was burnt, so that even fire 
does not represent utter annihilation, altho it more 
nearly does so than anything else. But if a man 
may rot in the tomb, till there remains only dust. 
and God can gather up these remains and consti- 
tute a new man by the resurrection, then surely 
He can take the ashes of a burnt earth (if it should 



288 The Renewed Earth. 

burn) and make the new earth out of the remains 
of the old. 

(b) But shall the earth be burnt up? That it will 
melt in fervent heat, at least in parts, is conceded, 
but that it shall be annihilated is disputed. Let us 
examine this passage, in the light of scholastic in- 
vestigation. In Rotherham's translation we read, 
' 'The heavens, with a rushing noise, shall pass 
away, while the elements, becoming intensely hot, 
will be dissolved, and the earth and the works 
therein will be discovered." Reader, did you notice 
that last word — "discovered," not burnt? Maybe 
you are not acquainted with Rotherham. He is one 
of the foremost Greek scholars, and has given us, 
perhaps, the most perfect, literal translation of the 
new Testament as a whole. But, doubtless, you 
have access to a copy of the Revised Version. In 
this you will find the marginal reading says, "The 
most ancient manuscripts read 'discovered.' " 
What do you think of this? The older the manu- 
script the more authority is conceded it on every 
hand. The later manuscripts were more likely sub- 
ject to corruption. If a manuscript should.be found 
written in the very days of the apostles, it would, 
of course, carry more weight than all written since. 
Now, this marginal note in the Revised Version in- 
forms us, not simply that some ancient manu- 
scripts read "discovered," but that most of them 
do. Among recently published Greek Testaments 
the Westcott & Hort's is well to the front. It 
is most commonly used by colleges and theo- 
logical seminaries. They also sustain this read- 



Objections Considered. 289 

ing. The Twentieth Century New Testament gives 
us a like reading with Rotherham. Tregelles is 
one of the most prominent of English Greek 
scholars. He also sustains this rendering. * 

Well, says one, what can the word "discovered" 
mean in this connection? It simply means that for 
which I am contending on this subject. God made 
this earth pure and undefiled, without any of sin, 
of death, disease, suffering or sorrow in it. Sin 
entered and corrupted it — perverting God's work 
like the green scum arising upon the water in a 
stagnant pool, from which exudes death in mias- 
matic poison, so the effects of sin have clothed the 
earth in the green scum of hellish hate and poison, 
wickedness, war, debauchery, corruption, plagues, 
and like evils. On this account we have never seen 
the earth that God made. It is to-day a "tramp" 
world, arrayed in the devil's rags. In the day of 
its regeneration, when the elements are melting 
with fervent heat, the devil's rags and vile trap- 
pings shall be burned away, until the earth that 
God made, beautiful and glorious in Edenic love- 
liness shall, for the first time since the fall, be 
opened to the gaze of men. God's earth shall be 
seen, instead of Satan's perversion. Wonderful 
will be the scene, thrilling the vision ! 

*Rather, the discussion hinges on the Greek word, instead 
of on the translation. The word for "burnt up" is katakac- 
setai, while the word for "discovered" is hcurcthcsctai. As to 
which word Peter wrote authorities dift'er. But remember 
that the Revised Version credits "discovered" with the 
greatest ancient authority. 
19 



290 The Renewed Earth. 

7. Light is furnished on this subject in the same 
chapter from which the text which we have just 
been examining is taken. The apostle informs us 
that, "the world that then (in the days of Noah) 
was being overflowed with water, perished," (v. 6), 
so here we have an illustration of how the earth 
perished and yet existed, of how it was destroyed 
and still continued. Was the earth actually de- 
stroyed in the days of Noah? The inhabitants of 
it perished, but the earth itself remained. And yet, 
even of the inhabitants, a seed remained as a 
nucleus for the population of the earth after the 
deluge. This destruction of the earth was, indeed, 
a fearful visitation, a time of judgment and wrath 
upon sinners of the earth. But the globe itself 
was spared. In like manner, the fiery visitation 
which the apostle tells us awaits the earth, will be 
terrific. In it, the multitudes of those who hate 
God, and who, having had the light of His Word, 
have rejected His gospel and despised His grace 
will be destroyed. The fires will envelop them, 
and they will perish. But He who devised an ark 
for Noah and his family, will find a means of de- 
liverance for His faithful, and for those among the 
nations who have not despised His authority or re- 
jected His grace. The vast multitudes of the 
nations to-day are as dumb cattle, living without 
God, because they know nothing of Him. They 
will be spared, though suffering much in the fiery 
ordeal of that great day, and will live to love and 
glorify God in the dispensation of the fullness of 
times. We hear Isaiah saying, ' 'When thy Judg- 



Objections Considered. 291 

merits are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world 
will learn righteousness." (26:9.) Jeremiah like- 
wise says, concerning the time of God's visitation, 
"Alas, for that day is great, so that none is like it; 
it is even the time of Jacob's trouble; but He shall 
be saved out of it." (30:7.) 

It is after the destruction of the earth by fire 
that John portrays "Jerusalem the golden" coming 
down from God out of heaven to be the light of the 
world, in which light the nations of the earth walk, 
and their kings "bring their glory and honor into 
it." It is in this renewed condition that "the 
leaves of the tree are for the healing of the 
nations." But if the earth is destroyed with its in- 
habitants, there will be left no nations to be healed 
by the tree of life, to walk in the light of that City, 
or to bring their glory and honor into it. The fact 
that nations remain in the new earth is conclusive 
proof that the race is not annihilated and its in- 
crease terminated at the coming of the Lord. It is 
after Jesus comes in the clouds that the nations 
and languages and peoples of earth all submit to 
Him. (Dan. 7:14.) But the fact that nations con- 
tinue, establishes beyond controversy our conten- 
tion that the race is perpetuated. Nations are made 
up of corporeal existences, rather than of imma- 
terial spirits. Who ever read of nations, tongues, 
languages and peoples in heaven ? These distinctions 
pass away ere the redeemed walk before God in the 
City. But they continue upon the earth even in its 
renewed condition, as the Scriptures adduced abun- 
dantly show. 



292 The Renewed Earth. 

8. Earth would soon become overpopulated. 

This is a very common objection when we begin 
to speak of the perpetuation of the race beyond 
the Judgment, when there is no more sickness and 
no more dying. People tell us that if the race 
continues to multiply, in a time when there is no 
death, that the earth could not possibly hold the 
population. In reply, we would call attention to 
the following facts: 

(a) At present about three-fourths of the surface 
of the earth is water, but in the renewed earth 
there will be no more sea. (Rev. 21:2.) At once 
we find four times the room on the surface of the 
earth that we now have. 

(b) The curse being removed, the whole earth 
becomes, under the divine blessing, a garden of 
Eden. Thus, its fruitfulness being increased per- 
haps a hundred-fold, its population could be 
correspondingly multiplied. Instead of one 
billion five hundred millions, as at present, 
the earth can then easily carry, no doubt, one 
hundred and fifty billions. But, of course, with 
no death, this number would be reached be- 
fore a great while. Then what? Why, simply 
translation, and is not this really the lesson that 
God would teach us by the cases of Enoch and 
Elijah? Might it not be that He has given us these 
as illustrations for the elucidation of this very sub- 
ject. When His holy, happy servants shall have 
remained for a time under earthly conditions and 
limitations, He may then send for them His chariot 
of fire and call them into His presence. 



Objections Considered. 293 

(c) My wife at my side suggests that it is as easy 
for God to make the earth grow to hold its popula- 
tion as to increase the population. This is certain- 
ly true as a matter of fact, whether it is God's 
plan I will leave to the reader and Mrs. Pickett. 

(d) But the final and absolutely unanswerable 
solution of the question is found in one word of 
three letters — "GOD." There are no difficulties 
with Him. All we need to know is what He says 
concerning matters. His word is an end to con- 
troversy. He who has filled the immensity of 
space with countless visible and invisible orbs, is 
abundantly able to take care of any numbers of 
the human race that may come into existence in 
the eternal future. 

(e). As a complete offset, however, to the objec- 
tion, we ask a question. What would have become 
of the race had sin never entered the world? There 
was no death before the transgression, and yet 
our fore-parents were under command to multiply 
and replenish the earth. Had sin not entered, and 
consequently death remained unknown, how would 
the earth have held its population from the begin- 
ning? He who answers this question has fully 
covered the objection. As we have already shown, 
God is abundantly able to take care of the case. It 
is His affair, not ours. 



'294 The Renewed Earth* 

CHAPTER XV. 
Question Department. 



We have received quite a number of questions. 
Some of them are so fully covered in the body of 
this book as to require no attention here. The fol- 
lowing, though mainly covered in other pages, may 
be better understood by seme attention: 

1. "Will men continue to increase as they do now? 
If so, will it be a spiritual or natural generation? 
Paul says we are to be raised a spiritual body. — R. 
F. Mountain. 

Ans. The population of the earth, we believe, 
will continue to increase, but it will not be the 
progeny of the dead and resurrected, but of the 
race continued, as in the case of Noah, who was 
transferred from the antediluvian world to the post- 
diluvian. As to those who die, and share in the 
resurrection, there is no marrying or giving in 
marriage. (Luke 20:35,36.) Hence, to them there 
is no further offspring. 

2. What troubles me most is, "What becomes of 
the dead now, before the Judgment?" "Do they 
sleep, or do they go directly into the presence of 
the King?" — Anna M. Jones. 

Ans. We have introduced a chapter into this 
book from the pen of Rev. G. D. Watson, which 
thoroughly covers this question. See it. 



Question Department. 295 

3. In Rev. 21, it is said the nations bring their 
honor and glory into the city, the New Jerusalem. 
What need has the city of the honor and glory of 
such men? — A. L. Moore. 

Ans. The city will not need the glory, but this 
simply points out the fact that all the world is en- 
tirely subservient to the will of the King. Every 
one willingly and reverently worships and honors 
Jehovah; and this is a greatly to be desired con- 
summation. 

4. Prank J. Harmon asks us to explain Isaiah 
11:6-12; 14:12; 65:20 and 66:8. 

Ans. (1) (Isa. 11:1-12). This describes the con- 
ditions in the new earth, when there is perfect 
peace and harmony between man and beast. The 
passage also points out the restoration of the 
Israelites, when they are gathered from the na- 
tions of the earth to the homeland. 

(2) (Isa. 14:12). "Lucifer" means "Son of the 
morning" or "morning star," and the passage 
doubtless has reference to the fact that Satan was 
once a shining archangel, but he fell from the 
heights of heaven to the depths of hell. 

(3) (Isa. 65:20). This refers to the Millennium, 
during which time people will die, but their lives 
will be so much longer than at present that if one 
passes away at one hundred years of age he 
is called a "child." (See chapter on the Millen- 
nium.) 

(4) (Isa. 66:8). The passage is thought by many 
to teach that at the coming of Christ the whole Jew- 
ish nation will be converted to God suddenly, so 



296 The Renewed Earth. 

that it might be said that a nation was born in a 
day. 

5. J. C. Monroe asks: 

(1) Will this earth be the abode of all God's re- 
deemed? If this is heaven, where will hell be? 

Ans. This earth will never be heaven, though 
it will be as holy and as free from sin as that 
blessed world. It will continue to be the habita- 
tion of a purified and renewed race. But the city 
which comes down from God out of heaven will 
doubtless be the residence of risen immortals. 
Earth will never be heaven, but it will be an ad- 
junct of heaven, and be of as easy access to the 
immortals as it is to-day to the angels of God. 

(2) Will we still eat material food? If so, will 
it be necessary? 

Ans. See chapter on this subject. 

(3) Will we know each other there? 

Ans. To be sure. Saul knew Samuel, when he 
came up from the grave to talk with him. (1 Sam. 
28:14.) The rich man knew Lazarus, whom he had 
seen, and also recognized Abraham, whom he had 
never seen before. Peter knew Moses and Elias 
on the mount of Transfiguration, having never seen 
either of them before. Furthermore, knowledge 
is then perfect, whereas it is now imperfect. 
''Then shall I know even as also I am known." 
(1 Cor. 13:12.) 

A. M. Reaper asks the following questions: 

(1) Will the New Jerusalem appear in mid-heaven 
during the thousand years? 

Ans. I think not. It does not appear till after 



Question Department. 297 

the Millennium and the great white throne judg- 
ment. (Rev. 20,21 chapters.) 

(2) Is Satan loosed after the thousand years to 
try those who were born during the Millennium? 

Ans. Yes; and God gives him all who are fool- 
ish enough to join him. 

(3) Will the new earth be made from the old? 
Ans. Yes; it is a regeneration (Matt. 19:28), a 

restoration (Acts 3:21). "Re" is a Latin prefix, 
which signifies again; hence, it can never be used 
of an original making, but always of a restoration. 
Consequently, regeneration means a re-lif-ing; that 
is, a restoring of a forfeited life. The life lost to 
man and to the world in Adam is restored in Christ. 
Accordingly, we may confidently expect the old 
world to regain its Eden life in the kingdom and 
reign of Jesus Christ, who, as human is man's rep- 
resentative, and as Divine He is God's. 

(4) When will Nineveh rise up in judgment against 
the Jews who rejected Christ? 

Ans. In the Judgment of the great white throne, 
when the dead, small and great, stand before God. 
(Rev. 20:11-15.) 

6. Will children come back with Jesus and reign 
during the Millennium? — Mrs. J. K. Burford. 

Ans. Most probably yes; if they sleep in Jesus, 
God will bring them with Him in that day. (1 Thess. 
4:15,16.) 

7. J. W. Harvey asks: 

(1) Would not man have lived always upon the 
earth had he not sinned? 

Ans. Yes; for "by one man sin entered into the 



298 The Renewed Earth. 

world, and death by sin." (Rom. 5:12.) When all 
sin is driven from the earth "death will be no 
more." 

(2) Had not Satan been cast out of heaven, and 
was he not here on earth when God created man? 

Ans. It would seem so. He was ready to meet 
our fore-parents in the garden with his temptations 
at a very early day. 

(3) Did not Satan succeed in capturing the world 
for his kingdom when he got Adam and Eve, and 
has he not ruled as its prince ever since? 

Ans. Yes; Adam was the lord or king of the 
earth, and when Satan captured him he got his 
kingdom with him. Hence, Christ comes to earth 
as the second Adam to retake the kingdom, which 
He has redeemed, that is, bought back, as a lost or 
forfeited inheritance. Study the laws of redemp- 
tion in Lev. 25th chapter, and in other scriptures. 
Jesus as our kinsman, "the Son of man," has re- 
deemed our forfeited estate. 

(4) Did not Christ redeem the world and will 
He not come and reign as its King, and will not all 
the righteous return with Him and live on earth 
forever? 

Ans. During the Millennium Christ and His 
saints reign in Jerusalem. (Isa. 24:25 and 32:1.) 
After the thousand years, their residence will like- 
ly be the golden city, the New Jerusalem. This 
city comes down, perhaps not literally to or on the 
earth, but in near proximity, becoming the sun of 
the world in whose light the nations will walk. 
(Rev. 21:24-27.) 



Question Department. 299 

(5) When Christ comes, will men be subject to 
disease, death, etc? 

Ans. There will be death during the thousand 
years. (Isa. 65:20.) But not in the new earth be- 
yond that. (Rev. 21:4.) 

(6) Do you believe in a second probation? 

Ans. No; I doubt if there will be any second 
probation; Satan has had none; and I know of no 
scripture that teaches it. Ecc. 9:10 is against it. 
More especially is there none for those who have 
had gospel privileges and rejected the light. I 
know of no scripture which gives any shadow of 
foundation to second probationism. Even the 
heathen will not need it, for they are only held re- 
sponsible for living up to such light as they have. 
(Rom. 2:6-16.) They are judged according to the 
spirit actuating them. We should, however, speed 
them the gospel that it may arouse and stir their 
carnal lethargic natures. 

(7) What of soul-sleeping and conditional im- 
mortality? 

Ans. I consider it without foundation in the Word 
of God. The sleeping mentioned in 1 Thess. 4:16 
is of the body, not of the soul. Lazarus was not 
asleep, and the rich man was not annihilated. (See 
the chapter by G. D. Watson on "Where Are the 
Dead?") 

(8) Do the spirits of the wicked leave this earth? 
Ans. Yes; they awake in the torments of hell. 

(Luke 16.) 

9. A. P. Mahard asks: 

(1) Will the new heavens and the new earth be 



300 The Renewed Earth. 

at the beginning or at the end of the Millen- 
nium? 

Ans. At the end; see Rev. 20 and 21. The Mil- 
lennium is the transition period. It is a log-roll- 
ing, yard-sweeping time; the trash is burned away 
at its close. 

(2) Will the General Judgment be at the begin- 
ning or close of the Millennium? 

Ans. The Bible says nothing of a ' 'general" Judg- 
ment. The Judgment begins at the appearing of 
Christ, (a) His saints meet Him in the air and are 
judged for their rewards. (Rev. 22:12.) (b) After 
the tribulation He comes to earth, and the saints 
who have received their crowns will join Him in 
the judgment of the living nations. (1 Cor. 6:2.) 
(c) After this the dead are judged, from the throne 
of God. (Rev. 20:11-15.) The term "general judg- 
ment" is unscriptural, and, as commonly used, is 
misleading, in that it presupposes a miscellaneous 
judgment of living and dead simultaneously. 

(3) Will the Millennium begin when Jesus comes? 
Ans. His coming has two stages. First, as a 

thief, for His saints, to take them away from the 
tribulation. (Luke 21:34-36; Isa. 26:19-21; 1 Thess. 
4:16,17.) Second, After the tribulation, He comes 
with His saints in the clouds. (Rev. 1:7.) At this 
time the Millennium, or Judgment of the living 
nations, begins. 

10. From Rev. Andrew Johnson we have the fol- 
lowing questions: 

(1) If the race is to be perpetuated on the earth, 
why was it not discovered before? 



Question Department. 301 

Ans. Many Bible truths have long lain undis- 
covered in the Word. For centuries the doctrine 
of Justification by faith was lost, being brought to 
light by Martin Luther. The witness of the Spirit 
as a Bible doctrine was obscured through the dark 
ages, and, being preached by the Wesleys, was 
looked upon as a new discovery. The possibility 
of an instantaneous experimental sanctification, 
which is now being preached with power in what 
is known as "the holiness movement," for many 
centuries lay undiscovered in the Word of God. 
The Bible, like the earth, has many hidden treas- 
ures — undiscovered gold mines. Daniel tells us 
that in the time of the end, knowledge shall be in- 
creased. In fact, he was instructed by revelation 
to shut up the words and seal the book, even to the 
time of the end. (12:4.) Thus it seems that God 
even intended that many prophetic truths should 
only be understood aright in the closing days of 
our dispensation. 

(2.) How about the scientific fact that all the ma- 
terial universe seems tending to dissolution? If 
such is, indeed, true, will it not necessitate a sur- 
render of your views, or mark a conflict between 
nature and revelation? 

Ans. There is no conflict between God in nature 
and God in revelation. Scientists do not always cor- 
rectly interpret nature, as is proven by the fact 
that scientific statement is constantly changing. 
Science is too unsettled, too immature, to contradict 
the definite statement of God's Word. But we 
must bear in mind, as Jesus said at one time con- 



302 The Renewed Earth. 

cerning the Sabbath, "the Son of man is Lord" of 
nature and of science. The engineer can reverse 
his engine and go back down the line up which he 
came. So God may reverse the existing order of 
nature in the time of earth's regeneration, and thus 
change the present order of things. We may be 
sure that the word of inspiration is authoritative, 
and it informs us that God "is in Christ recon- 
ciling the world — doubtless of nature as well as 
men — unto Himself," (2 Cor. 5:19), and He must 
furnish the ultimate solution of all our problems. 
The very "ground" is involved in the curse; so 
when the curse is lifted, "the laws of nature" as 
we know them may be superseded by others, more 
in keeping with the new conditions. 

(3.) Is it not a grossly materialistic view which 
you have presented in this book? 

Certainly not. It points to a perfect refinement, 
purgation and glorification of our earth. There is 
nothing more carnal and material in it than there 
was in primary creation, when God pronounced 
everything He had made good, yea, "very good." 
The vagaries of men depict a far-away, dreamy, 
intangible, uncertain and unreal kind of heaven; 
but the God who has made all things, has given 
permanency and durability to creation. There is 
reality, a firmness, a stability to His work that hon- 
ors Him and insures happiness to His people. 

11. Mrs. Mary W. Hughes asks, Can we all see 
Jesus when He comes? If not, what advantage is 
there in it? 

Reply. 1. All the immortals who are caught 



Question Department. 303 

up from the grave or from the walks of the living 
by the translation to meet the Lord in the air, will 
see Him just as well in Jerusalem as in heaven. 
During the thousand years, while men on earth are 
subject to mortality, they cannot see Him, or at 
least not all of them, any more than any other 
ruler could be seen by them. His government of 
the world, however, will be righteous. By His 
divine authority He will break up the perverseness 
of the nations, and rule the world in the interest of 
peace and righteousness. Is there any advantage 
in having a righteous law, rather than an unright- 
eous one? Is it better for the people to have godly 
rulers than ungodly? and holy administrations 
rather than unholy? If so, there is vast advantage 
to the world in the reign of Christ as over against 
the perverse and godless administrations of Gen- 
tile rulers, such as we have to-day. 

2. After the thousand years, when earth is made 
new, and all sin is overthrown, Christ and His 
saints will occupy the New Jerusalem that comes 
down from God out of heaven, and from this, as 
the Capitol of the universe, will conduct the affairs 
of the holy, happy, sinless and deathless nations 
forever. There being no death then, people who 
are born on earth will likely live here as Enoch or 
Elijah for a period of one hundred or two hundred 
years, and then be translated away to the heavenly 
Jerusalem, where they shall see the Master in His 
undimmed glory. Do not forget that during the 
Millennium the Holy Spirit will continue to be 
poured out, and thus we will have all the ad van- 



304 The Renewed Earth. 

tages of the divine Spirit and a pure gospel, which 
the most favored may possess to-day, and, in addi- 
tion to this, the beneficent reign of Christ over the 
nations. 



Importance of this Doctrine. 305 

CHAPTER XVI. 
Importance of this Doctrine* 



There is a disposition in some quarters to rule 
this subject out. Among the holiness people 
especially, there is a disposition to call it "a side- 
track." Some of them make quite a hobby of fight- 
ing ' 'hobbies." They are especially anxious to 
prevent the discussion of such subjects as the com- 
ing of Christ, divine healing, etc. Some scarcely 
know how to write an article for the papers with- 
out mounting their hobby of opposition to "side- 
tracks." In some instances they have largely side- 
tracked their own usefulness by opposing subjects 
upon which God put His blessing. We could name 
several who seem to feel it a bounden duty to 
guard the people against what is known as Pre- 
Millennial teaching. One good brother writing on 
"Half Hours With St. Paul" and on the "Errors 
of Antinomianism" felt that he'must go out of his 
way to lug in his opposition to this blessed sub- 
ject. The writer honors this dear, good man, and 
would like to circulate his writings, but my love 
for the teaching of our Lord, wherein He insists 
that we be ready daily for His appearing, lias 
forced me to eliminate these writings from my 
book-stand and catalogue. 

Even the National Holiness Association has 

struck a compromise on this subject by agreeing 
20 



306 The Renewed Earth. 

to disagree and never discuss it. This may be 
right, but it seems very questionable. By what 
Scripture can we justify such a proceeding? Is a 
large part of God's Word to be eliminated from our 
teaching that we may work in fellowship with those 
who are unsound in their views.? It would seem 
that the better way to handle God's Word is to find 
out what it teaches, and then press the whole truth. 
If men unite with us, all right; if not, let us go 
alone. I have not so learned Christ, as that is my 
duty to compromise God's truth with any man. If 
He is in error, as I read the Word, I must not 
tolerate his errors, but reprove them. To say that 
one shall not preach the Word of God in all its 
fullness, is rather too much. Who made you judge 
of another's conscience? or appointed you a cus- 
todian of Bible doctrines? Let each preach the 
Word of God as he finds it, and if you cannot agree 
on this basis, the world is wide, scatter to other 
places. That this doctrine is not one that may be 
shelved to the glory of God is proven by the fol- 
lowing lines of thought: 

1. His coming again is a fact. We cannot over- 
look the issue, it must be faced. This is not a 
theory or a creed. The return of our Lord is more 
certain than the rising of the sun to-morrow. 
It is far more certain than death. Enoch and 
Elijah yet live, and at the coming of our Lord in 
His glory, many of the saints will be translated, so 
we see that death is not an assured fact in every 
case. But Jesus will come again. For this we 
have His own infallible word, the declaration of 



Importance of this Doctrine. 307 

the angels at the time of His ascension, and the fre- 
quent statement of the prophets. Now, since His 
return is an assured fact, it must be considered, 
and should be constantly and emphatically preach- 
ed — the "side-trackers" to the contrary notwith- 
standing. 

2. His always imminent. This word "imminent" 
simply means "impending," overhanging. It in- 
dicates certainty as to fact, and uncertainty as to 
time. The imminence of Christ's coming implies 
that He may be here to-day. And yet, we cannot 
say positively that He will appear at any specified 
day or hour or year. Without setting a date, we 
must always be looking for His coming till the 
time of His arrival. Now, that which is imminent 
should be prominent in all Gospel preaching. 
"When the Master said, "Of that day and hour 
knoweth no man," He did not mean to kill off all 
interest in the question of His coming, but rather 
to quicken it. He did not by this statement intend 
to justify a careless spirit of indifference and un- 
concern touching His glorious advent, but to 
arouse every slumbering heart, to put every serv- 
ant on the alert, that the hour of His advent might 
not take them unawares. It was from this basis 
that He pressed the necessity of readiness. ■ 'There- 
fore be ye also ready, for in such an hour as ye 
think not the Son of man cometh." (Matt. 24:44.) 
The Post-Millennialist awaits the conversion of the 
world for His advent, but the Master was no Post- 
Millennialist; He bade us await nothing, but be 
ready every day, waiting and watching for His 



3<j>8 The Renewed Earth. 

coming. Jesus said, "Take heed to yourselves; 

lest that day comes upon you unawares.'* 

"Watch ye therefore, and pray always." (Luke 
21:34-36.) Again, on this matter He commands, 
"Watch ye therefore, for ye know not when the 

Master of the house cometh" "lest, coming* 

suddenly, He find you sleeping. And what I say 
unto you, I say unto all, Watch." (Mark 13:35-37.) 
Had the Master belonged to the National Holiness 
Association, He might have been ruled out of order 
for preaching the Pre-Millennial doctrine, or at 
least criticised as "a side-tracker, hurting the 
cause of true holiness by lugging in side issues' 5 ! 
There is no Post-Millennial dogma in this Scrip- 
ture — nor in any other. No man can be looking for 
Jesus to-day, and waiting for a thousand years of 
Gospel millennium. Bro. Isaiah Reid and others 
of his way of thinking may need yet to get after 
Jesus for pushing a "sidetrack." When the Son 
of man teaches us to be waiting, robed, ready and 
watching every day for His coming no man has au- 
thority to expunge it from his creed, and no set of 
men have a right to reject and rule out the preach- 
ing of this truth. "Well, but," says one, "we da 
this in the interest of harmony, some being Pre- 
Millennialists and some Post-Millennialists-; we 
have agreed to drop the doctrine that we may work 
together." Ah, my brethren, this will never do! 
Preach God's word as you find it. If men are un- 
sound, correct their errors; if they reject your 
message still be true to your God. Any man or 
body of men who should have ruled out the preach- 



• Importance of this Doctrine. 309 

ing of the second coming of Christ in days apos- 
tolic would have had a hard time to control the 
preaching of a Paul, a Peter or a John. These 
men, with the fires of Pentecost in their hearts, an 
open Bible in their hands, and the word of Christ 
ringing in their ears, "Therefore be ye also ready," 
could never have been gagged or ruled out on this 
marvelous and all-important Bible doctrine. 

3. The prominence given this doctrine in the 
Bible should arouse every preacher, every Confer- 
ence and Association, every church and camp- 
meeting to press mightily and preach earnestly the 
great subject. It is a recognized rule in all public 
discussion, homiletics, etc., that those themes 
which occupy the chief place, and accordingly have 
the greatest prominence, in the text-book should 
he given precedence over others of less promi- 
nence. It does seem that we should observe some- 
thing of the proportion in our preaching that we 
find in the inspired Word. God has but little to 
say in His Book concerning "baptism," but with 
many men it is a great hobby. He gives little at- 
tention to science and philosophy, and nothing, 
even prophetically, of Shakespeare, but some 
preachers depart from the writtten Word and give 
their time and strength to the sciences of men and 
the literature of the uninspired. The two most 
prominent doctrines in the Bible, the doctrines to 
which it gives greatest space, are "holiness," i. e., 
entire sanctification, and the second coming of 
Jesus Christ. These are twin truths that sustain. 
encourage and emphasize each other. Yet in many 



310 The Renewed Earth. 

churches they are both ruled out. Entire sancti- 
fication as a present privilege, and the return of 
Jesus as a daily possibility and imminent fact, 
should be the burden of the pulpit, the leading 
theme of the press, the inspiration of prayer and 
faith and hope in every congregation. Some ac- 
cept one of these doctrines and repudiate the other, 
thus showing the short-sightedness of human na- 
ture. 

Touching our Lord's coming, it is said by those 
who have investigated, that one-twenty-fifth of the 
entire New Testament is devoted to it. If it were 
scattered through all the chapters, and the chap- 
ters were divided into twenty-five verses each, there 
would be in each chapter a verse on this subject. 
If the New Testament were so divided as to make 
twenty-five books of equal size, one entire book 
would be given to this question. Not only is it 
prominent in the New Testament, but the burden 
of the prophecy in the Old points to His coming in 
glory. Many of those Old Testament prophecies 
which refer to Christ entirely overlook and over- 
leap His coming in humiliation, and point rather to 
His appearing in the clouds of heaven with power 
and great glory. As a sample, see the seventh 
chapter of Daniel, the fourteenth of Zechariah, and 
Jude, verses 14 and 15, which last is one of the very 
oldest of all the prophecies of the Bible. This 
subject is the thread upon which is hung all other 
Bible doctrines, it is the golden link which binds 
together the great truths of Sacred Writ. It shines 
and scintilates, it glows and burns in the proph- 



Importance of this Doctrine. 311 

ets of all the centuries; it is the chief theme of 
inspiration, the bulwark of faith, the foundation of 
hope, the bow of promise that spans the ages and 
gilds the future with light and glory. The Bible 
is the Word of God, and that which occupies large 
space in its sacred pages should receive special at- 
tention in our pulpits, our songs, our prayers, our 
writings and our daily thought. He who would 
wrench this doctrine from our creeds and our hopes 
is a perverter of Scripture, an enemy of the truth 
of God, and his conduct is worthy only of condem- 
nation. 

4. The Pre-Millennial coming of our Lord is a 
key-doctriae, without which the Scriptures cannot 
be correctly interpreted. On this the other doc- 
trines hinge, and by it, alone, can they be really 
understood and safely and clearly explained, 
(a) The future of the race can only be correctly in- 
terpreted and understood in connection with a right 
view of the second advent, (b) The resurrection 
and the Judgment are dependent on a correct view 
of our Lord's return for proper exposition. As 
set forth in these pages, the Judgment is seen to 
be in two stages, that of the living occupying the 
Millennial era, while the Judgment of the dead is 
that which was witnessed by John when the All- 
Living-One appeared on the great white throne. 
The resurrection, likewise, is in two stages, the 
holy dead being raised a thousand years before the 
others. (1 Thess. 4:16,17; Rev. 20.) (c) Our Lord's 
coming is intimately connected with other doc- 
trines, such as repentance (Acts 3:19-21), convor- 



312 The Renewed Earth. 

sion (1 Thess. 1:9,10), entire sanctification (1 Thess. 
5:23), purity (1 John 3:2, 3), holiness (2 Pet. 3:11,12), 
zeal (Titus 2:13, 14), patience ( Jas. 5 :7, 8), gifts (1 Cor. 
1:7), unworldliness (Mark 8:36,37,38; Matt. 16:25- 
27). If we would correctly interpret the Scrip- 
tures and properly enforce their great truths, we 
must have a correct view of our Lord's coming 
again. 

5. Apply the "sidetrack" method or argument to 
other doctrines, such as conversion, sermons on 
hell, faith, etc. No man could unite Christendom 
on any one of these doctrines. If you would preach 
conversion, as a definite, conscious experience, 
some could be found who would contradict you, 
and declare it was a mere reformation, a church- 
joining, a thing dependent on baptism. Others 
would tell you it is a growth, that it can never be 
definitely known; that, at best, you may only have 
4 'a hope." Now, are we to rule out preaching on 
conversion, in order that we may unite all the fac- 
tions? If you preach on "hell" some can be found 
who will differ from you. One class denies it in toto, 
another limits its duration, yet another class turn 
hell into a kind of purgatory from which the soul, 
eventually purified, escapes to the land of the 
blessed. Still others may be found who teach a 
second probation, or the annihilation of the wicked. 
Accordingly, brethren, we had best not preach on 
hell, lest it make a division of the forces, and so 
for peace we had best discard "conversion" and 
"hell" as subjects adapted to our holiness associa- 
tions. 



Importance of this Doctrine. 313 

Suppose some man preaches on faith, and teaches 
it as an exercise of the individual; another pro- 
nounces him unsound and declares it to be a gift of 
God. So here is a difference of views, and perhaps 
we had best just discard the subject in the interest 
of peace! So let us label "conversion," "hell," 
"faith," and "the second coming" all "sidetracks" 
and eliminate them from our holiness Association 
meetings in the interest of harmony. "O," says 
one, "that is not fair; we can agree on such sub- 
jects as those, at least all the holiness people." 
No, indeed, you cannot. One of the most pro- 
nounced and able holiness teachers of the South 
has espoused the doctrine of the annihilation of the 
wicked and is teaching it with tongue and pen. 

If any class of people ought to stand for a full 
Gospel and an open Bible, it should be the holiness 
folks. By whose authority may we reject a large 
part of God's Word as unsuitable to be preached at 
anytime! The simple trouble is, that some men 
among us have espoused an unscriptural dogma, 
which has unfortunately survived the creeds of the 
dark ages, and when we bring the fullness of God's 
Word to bear against their errors and their unscrip- 
tural teachings, they cry "sidetrackers, sidetrack - 
ers," and seek to shut out the preaching of this 
great and blessed truth of the near coming of our 
Lord, His imminent appearing in majest}- and 
glory. Error seeks the shades of darkness, but 
truth has nothing to fear from the light of investi- 
gation. Men who seek to rule out the teaching 
and preaching of a large part of God's Word show 



314 The Renewed Earth. 

the weakness of their cause and the fear of an hon- 
est and thorough investigation. I know these are 
plain words, but the cause of truth demands them. 
6. Jesus and His apostles made much of the doc- 
trine of His near coming. To them it was no ' 'side- 
track/' and neither scribes nor Pharisees could 
rule them out on this wonderful theme. Jesus 
drew down upon His own head the fiery wrath of 
the High Priest when He announced before that 
unworthy tribunal, in fearless language, His glo- 
rious second coming. Said He, ' 'Hereafter shall 
ye see the Son of man, sitting on the right hand 
of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven !" 
This was an unpopular doctrine with the High 
Priest. Accordingly he "rent his clothes, saying, 
'He hath spoken blasphemy.'" (Matt. 26:64,65.) 
The disciples preached much on this subject, and 
comforted their own hearts with the blessed hope. 
It was left for Daniel Whitby, and others who have 
followed in his footsteps, to invent a dogma that 
nullifies a large part of the Inspired Book. Lovers 
of the Bible should preach a full Gospel, whether 
man will hear or refuse. The coming of Christ is 
a doctrine of comfort to the aching heart, of hope 
to the disconsolate soul, of inspiration to the toiler 
whose labors seem to bear inadequate, and at times 
after much toil well-nigh no fruit. It is a doctrine 
of awakening to sinners, of power in the pulpit, 
and of quickening to the pew. The crowns of 
glory to be administered "in that day" are for those 
who "love His appearing." (2 Tim. 4:8.) This is 
an unpopular doctrine among the worldly-minded, 



Importance of this Doctrine. 315 

the pleasure-seeking, theater- going, whisky-drink- 
ing, tobacco-using, lodge-going, money-hoarding 
masses. But to humble-hearted lovers of Jesus, 
to those who devote their lives to His glory, their 
time and strength and money to His service, from 
whom the shackles of earth have been broken and 
whose hearts and hopes are centered on Jesus only, 
to all such the thought of His early coming is full 
of inspiration, encouragement and never-ending 
joy. Let us, therefore, preach it and pray it, sing 
it and shout it, publishing it everywhere without 
fear or favor. "Wherefore comfort one another 
with these words." (1 Thess. 4:18.) 

In conclusion of this chapter we quote the fol- 
lowing stirring words from G. H. Pember, "Who 
can be sure of a day or an hour? Who of Christ's 
watching people can tell when he rises in the 
morning, whether he will not have left the scenes 
of earth before the closing of day? Who, when 
he retires to rest, knows whether he will be 
awakened by the returning light, or by the sum- 
mons of the Master, the voice of the archangel, 
and the trump of God? Are we not now living in 
solemn times? Is not the air full of warnings? 
Does it not behoove every believer to arise, gird 
up his loins and trim his lamp? Is it not the 
sound of the King's chariot which we hear? Should 
not every sleeping servant rouse himself and pre- 
pare to meet the Lord with joy.? 

"It may be that His voice will be heard in the 
morning when the sun is high and men are hurry- 
ing to their various occupations. It may be that 



3 1 6 The Renewed Earth. 

He will call at even, when the west is crimson with 
the setting sun, and the weary are seeking their 
homes after the toil and excitement of the day. It 
may be that His summons will startle the midnight 
air and bring forth His own from the darkness of 
their chambers or their graves into the dazzling 
glory of His presence. It may be that at early 
dawn He may speak the word, and in an instant 
be surrounded by the myriads of His elect, count- 
less as the dewdrops that spring from the womb of 
the morning and glisten in the reddening beams 
of the sun. 'Watch, therefore, for ye know neither 
the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man 
•cometh.' 'Surely I come quickly,' was His last 
message to His widowed church; let no man think 
that he has the Spirit of Christ till he can fer- 
vently respond, 'Amen. Even so, come, Lord 
Jesus.'" (Earth's Earliest Ages, 468, 469.) 



Spiritual Results. 317 

CHAPTER XVII. 
Spiritual Results. 



One of the glorious features of "the times of 
restitution" is to be found in the spread of full sal- 
vation and the triumph of holiness over sin. From 
the depravity of the world comes all its sorrows 
and its troubles, its vices and its crimes. But 
when Jesus as the Son of man, the second Adam, 
takes absolute charge of the world, He will so 
thoroughly renovate and sanctify it as that it may 
be filled with His grace and glory. Then, there 
will not be a family in all the earth but that knows, 
loves and honors God. The prophet tells us that 
"Holiness to the Lord" shall be on the bells, or 
bridles, of the horses. It will then be that business 
shall be conducted on the same principles which 
underlie real salvation work, and in the ordinary 
affairs of life that spirit will prevail which actuates 
the angels in heaven and the holy people of earth. 
Then shall be fulfilled our daily petition, "Thy 
will be done in earth as it is in heaven." 

The Bible teaches a present salvation from sin 
for the individual. Peter speaks of our being 
"holy in all manner of conversation" — or living. 
(1 Pet. 1:15, 16.) Paul bids us cleanse oursolws 
"from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfect- 
ing holiness." (2 Cor. 7:1.) Ho also prays for his 



3i 8 The Renewed Earth. 

converts that they may be "sanctified wholly," 
pledging them that the "will of God" is their 
"sanctification," and insists that he who despises 
or rejects this life, rejects God. (1 Thess. 4:3,7,8, 
and 5:23.) Luke tells us that God has sworn an 
oath that we may "serve Him in holiness all the 
days of our life." (Luke 1:73-75.) John tells us 
that the blood of Jesus Christ His Son "cleanseth 
us from all sin," adding, that "whosoever is born 
of God doth not commit sin," for "he that com- 
mitteth sin is of the devil." (1 John 1:7 and 3:8,9.) 
From all these Scriptures, we see the folly of those 
teachers who make themselves apologists for sin, 
contending, as they do, that it is impossible to live 
holy lives while in the body. God informs us that 
Job was a perfect man, and that Zechariah and 
Elizabeth walked in "all His ordinances and com- 
mandments without blame." (Job 1:1; Luke 1:5,6.) 
But, withal, we must remember that "we have this 
treasure in earthen vessels" (2 Cor. 4:7), and that, 
consequently, we must "watch and pray," lest we 
enter into temptation, for the spirit is willing, but 
the flesh is weak. (Matt. 26:41.) So that the best 
of holiness that we may obtain in this life will not 
exempt us from trials, from temptations and suffer- 
ings, and from the consequent possibility of falling 
into sin. (1 Cor. 10:12.) We are, however, en- 
couraged with the thought that if we fall under 
the power of temptation, we have an advocate, 
"Jesus Christ, the righteous." (1 John 2:1,2.) 

The question is sometimes raised, If the father 
and mother are both sanctified, will not the chil- 



Spiritual Results. 319 

dren be born holy? No; for our depravity de- 
scends, not simply from our father and mother, but 
from Adam, our federal head and representative, 
in whom we have all fallen. It is in Adam that all 
die. Consequently, it is only in Christ that all 
shall be "made alive." (1 Cor. 15:22.) Will the 
time ever come when children will be born holy? 
We believe we are safe in saying, "Yes;" and why? 
Because in the new earth we will have a new fed- 
eral head, the second Adam, who is made a "quick- 
ening spirit." As long as the world is populated 
under the old Adam, children will be born with de- 
praved natures, but when all sin is overthrown and 
the last enemy destroyed (1 Cor. 15:26), then, the 
restitution being complete, the Son of man, as the 
second Adam, will take charge of the race and it 
will be perpetuated in His name, instead of in that 
of the fallen man. Herein we see the significance 
of our Lord's title, "the Son of man." It is in His 
human capacity that He is to return, take charge 
of this world, and conduct its affairs. Then it will 
be the holy, happy and deathless world it was 
originally intended to be. The race as at present 
constituted traces its depravity to Adam the first. 
who fell. In the renewed earth it will trace its 
stream of holiness to Adam the second, in whom it 
is restored. As the fall of the first man corrupted 
all his progeny, so the holiness of the second Adam 
will accomplish the restoration and perfect purity 
of all the race when He becomes its federal head 
and representative. If Adam by his transgression 
could pervert and corrupt the whole race, so that 



320 The Renewed Earth. 

it is born depraved and lives in transgression, we 
may be sure that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the 
Son of man, can redeem and sanctify the whole 
race, that it may be pure and holy forever. This 
will not require the destruction of the race, but the 
overthrow of sin. Surely the "restoration of all 
things, which God hath promised by the mouth of 
all His holy prophets," which is to take place when 
Jesus returns from heaven (Acts 3:20,21), cannot in- 
volve anything less than the uplift, purification, 
and Edenic exaltation of the race. It must of 
necessity bring it back to the same conditions which 
prevailed prior to the fall. 

Will that not be a joyous day, when in all the 
earth not a lie is told, not an oath is uttered, not a 
war shall be waged, not a murder shall be commit- 
ted, nor a crime of any kind shall blacken the an- 
nals of the race? Praise shall be as natural to the 
redeemed of the nations then as to the angels in 
glory. There will be no antagonists to holiness; 
no one shall then trample God's holy law under 
foot or defy the authority of the Almighty. Peace 
and perfect love shall characterize all men. The 
will of God shall be the root of every man's con- 
duct. Then, indeed, they shall "not hurt nor de- 
stroy in all my holy mountain," saith the Lord, but 
earth shall be full of His knowledge and glory as 
waters that cover the sea. 

From land to land, from shore to shore, 
Our God shall reign for evermore, 
His name revered, His praises sung, 
Shall then engage each living tongue. 



Spiritual Results. 321 

Nor sin nor want, nor death nor pain, 
Shall e'er be known, or felt again. 
From highest heights, the angel throng; 
Shall join with men in rapturous song, 
For Christ shall reign from Pole to Pole 
O'er man redeemed, from sin made whole,. 



322 The Renewed Earth. 



APPENDIX. 
Where Are the Dead? 



Having finished my own work on this book, I 
take great pleasure in submitting to my readers 
the accompanying chapter on the state of the dead, 
from the trenchant pen of my friend and brother, 
Rev. G. D. Watson. There are many good people 
who teach that the dead are unconscious till the 
resurrection. I do not care to quarrel with them, 
but I feel that they have fallen into an error that 
should be corrected. In opposition to what they 
look upon as a hurtful teaching of the sou] -sleepers 
many intelligent Christians have been led to dis- 
card the whole subject of our Lord's return. Let 
all such know that there are many of us who teach 
Pre- Millennial truth without "tangling it up" with 
conditional immortality, soul-sleeping, annihila- 
tionism, or second probation and no-hellism. No 
one should reject truth because some have preached 
error in connection with it. Rather, let us "con- 
tend earnestly for the faith once delivered to the 
saints." (Jude 3.) Paul spoke of being absent 
from the body and "present with the Lord." 
(2 Cor. 9:8.) Accordingly, he was "In a strait be- 
twixt two, having a desire to depart and be" — un- 
conscious? Nay, but "to be with Christ." (Phil. 
1:23.) No soul-sleeping in this. But I need not 
argue the case; that has been successfully done 
by Bro. Watson. L. L. P. 



Where Are the Dead ? 323 



Where Are the Dead? 



G. D. WATSON. 



All we know about the future state of existence 
is what God's Word reveals on the subject, and 
then, as confirmatory of what the Scriptures say, 
we have the testimonies of thousands who in the 
moment of death have borne witness that the state- 
ments in Scripture concerning heaven and hell, 
angels and demons, are true. The geography of 
the unseen world is plainly stated in Scripture. 
Taking its exact statements to be absolutely true, 
let us endeavor to find out the state of the dead, 
and the different localities where they are kept. 

1. Let us notice the Bible terms for death. Our 
English word * 'death" is from the old Gothic 
"deasuth," which probably in its root meaning 
signifies "to cease to breathe." In the Greek Tes- 
tament the most common word for death is thanatos, 
which expresses the fact of death, as in all lan- 
guages. Another word in the Greek Testament for 
death is anaireo, which means "to lift up," "to take 
away." This is the word applied to the death of 
Stephen, and in one case to the death of Christ. 
Another word for death is apago, which means "to 
go away," "to leave," as on a journey. Especially 
is this word used of the death of saints. Yet an- 
other Greek word for death is exodus, which means 



324 The Renewed Earth. 

' 'to go out from." This is the word used about the 
decease of Jesus, and that of Peter. Still another 
word is analusis, used by Paul, when he says "the 
time of my departure (analusis) is at hand." The 
word signifies "to unbind," "to unloose," "to take 
the harness off. " Now, in the light of these divinely- 
chosen words, we see no hint whatever of annihila- 
tion, or of the unconscious sleep of the soul, but, 
on the other hand, the thought is expressed of the 
soul being "lifted up from the body," "leaving the 
body for a journey," or "being unloosed" from the 
pains and burdens of this present state. Death is 
a separation, a taking to pieces, but in no sense is 
it annihilation. 

2. Let us now look through the Bible and find 
what God says about the soul and the body exist- 
ing separately. In the first place, notice that pas- 
sage which so many are quoting to teach the un- 
conscious state of the soul after death, that "the 
dead know not anything." It is found in Ecclesi- 
astes, 9:4-6, and the writer is speaking of death in 
its physical aspect only, as applying to animals and 
men alike. He mentions the dog, the lion and man, 
in the same connection, and speaks of the dead body 
not knowing the common events of dai]y life, and 
what is being done under the sun. There is no ref- 
erence in the whole passage to the soul, but only 
to the animal part of our being, and to quote this 
passage to disprove the conscious existence of the 
soul after death betrays great ignorance of Scrip- 
ture on the subject. On the other hand, we find a 
continuous chain of proof texts that the soul re- 



Where Are the Dead ? 325 

mains intact, with all its faculties, and conscious of 
happiness or misery after death. The Old Testa- 
ment speaks of dying patriarchs and prophets be- 
ing ''gathered to their people," and "gathered to 
their fathers." (Gen. 25:29.) Now, if these people 
and fathers who had previously died were not in 
actual existence, how could their dying children be 
gathered unto them? "Isaac died, and was gath- 
ered unto his people." You see he died first, and 
then was gathered, or went, to the society of his 
father Abraham, proving that both Abraham and 
Isaac had a spiritual existence, and that they en- 
joyed conscious fellowship with each other after 
death. 

We have an account of the Prophet Samuel com- 
ing back in spirit form after his death, to speak 
with Saul. When the witch of Endor saw Samuel 
in spirit coming up out of the earth (for before the 
resurrection of Jesus all the dead, good and bad, 
were retained in the depths or center of the earth) 
she was frightened, and said, "An old man cometh 
up." Saul perceived it was Samuel, and bowed 
himself to the ground. The prophet said to Saul. 
"Why hast thou disquieted me, to bring me up, for 
the Lord is departed from thee, and the Lord hath 
done as He spake by me, and rent the kingdom out 
of thine hand, and given it to David, and to-mor- 
row thou and thy sons shalt be with me," (1 Sam. 
28:13-19.) This passage is a simple historic fact, 
and proves that Samuel was still living in spirit, 
and that he had all his mental faculties in conscious 
action after his death; and any one who would at- 



326 The Renewed Earth. 

tempt to pervert or deny the literal reality of this 
occurrence, is simply an infidel, denying the infal- 
lible statements of Scripture. When King David's 
little child died, he said, ' 'The child cannot come 
back to me, but I shall go to him, " which proves 
that the spirit of the child was living in the un- 
seen world, and that David would go and meet the 
child after he died. Solomon gives us a most 
poetic, and also scientific, description of the break- 
ing down of old age, and concludes, "Then shall 
the dust return to the earth as it was, and the spirit 
shall return unto God who gave it." (Eccles, 12:7.) 
This clearly distinguishes between the material 
and spiritual part of man, and shows that they can 
be separated, but neither is annihilated, the one 
crumbles to dust, and the other goes to deal per- 
sonally and intelligently with its Creator. This 
same truth is stated in the account of man's crea- 
tion, for after "God had formed man's body out of 
the dust of the ground, He breathed into his nos- 
trils the breath of life, and man became a living 
soul," proving that the living soul is a very differ- 
ent thing from the body of dust. (Gen. 2:7.) 
Isaiah gives us a remarkable passage concerning 
the death of the godly, "The righteous perisheth, 
and no man layeth it to heart, and merciful men 
are taken away from the evil to come. He shall 
enter into peace; they shall rest in their beds, each 
one walking in his uprightness." (Isa. 57:1, 2.) 
Notice the precision of the prophet's description, 
that the righteous dead, so far as their bodies are 
concerned, are resting in their beds, in the grave; 



Where Are the Dead ? 327 

but as to their souls, they are conscious and walk- 
ing in their uprightness. 

Our Saviour speaks of men being able to kill the 
body, which is the worst they can do, but He warns 
us to fear God, who not only has power to kill the 
body, but to cast both soul and body into hell fire. 
His words prove that the soul and the body can be 
divided without destroying the conscious existence 
of the soul after death. The Sadducees were a 
class of infidel Jews, who did not believe in angels, 
or resurrection, or the conscious existence of the 
soul after death, and we have not a single instance 
in Scripture where a soul-sleeping Sadducee was 
ever converted, or called by our Saviour to follow 
Him. When Jesus replied to their infidel notion, 
He reminded them of "the God of Abraham, Isaac 
and Jacob," and then added that "He was not the 
God of the dead, but of the living," proving that 
Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, still were in a con- 
scious, spiritual, living condition in the unseen 
world. It is amazing how many people will speak 
of the account which our Saviour gives (in Luke 16) 
of the rich man and Lazarus, as being a parable, 
when it is no such thing, and there is no hint of its 
being a parable, but a simple, straight-forward, 
matter-of-fact history, which occurred before the 
birth of Jesus, and which He witnessed in eternity 
before His incarnation. He says, ''there was a 
certain rich man and there teas a certain beggar 
named Lazarus," both being positive affirmations of 
historical fact. This account opens up the unseen 
world, and shows us the condition of both the right- 



328 The Renewed Earth. 

eous and the wicked. While their bodies were 
dead, the good man was comforted in the society 
of Abraham, but the wicked one was intelligent 
and conscious of being in torment, even while his 
body was yet in the grave, and while his relatives 
were still living on the earth. The many efforts to 
twist and deny the real meaning of this passage 
simply stultifies common sense, perverts all inter- 
pretation of Scripture, and gives the unblushing lie 
to the Infinite Son of God. 

When Jesus raised the dead maid to life, "Her 
spirit came again, and she arose straightway." 
(Luke 8:55.) How could "her spirit come back 
again" if it had not gone somewhere.? The Apostle 
James says, that "the body without the spirit is 
dead." (James 2:26.) But, mark you, he does not 
say that the spirit without the body is dead, which 
is what the soul-sleepers would have it say, but 
he declares "the body without the spirit is dead," 
proving that it is the spirit that keeps the body 
alive, but the body does not keep the spirit alive. 
Thank God for the accuracy of His inspired Word. 

At the transfiguration of Jesus, Moses was 
present in spiritual form and person, though his 
body was resting in its lonely grave in the 
mountains -of Moab. I cannot imagine why some 
deeply spiritual writers say that Moses never died, 
when the Bible informs us not less than seven 
times that "Moses died." The contention about 
the body of Moses, between Michael and Satan, 
referred to in Jude, was not that Moses should not 
die, but Satan wanted to show the Israelites where 



Where Are the Dead ? 329 

his body was buried, that the people might wor- 
ship it, and God hid his grave to prevent idolatry. 
So Moses either died or the Bible record is false; 
but God's Word is true, and Moses died, and there 
is no account that he was raised from the dead. So 
the plain Scripture fact is, that Moses in his dis- 
embodied and spirit form and person appeared at 
the transfiguration, and the three apostles saw 
him, and recognized him, and heard him speak 
with Jesus concerning the death of Christ shortly 
to occur. All this proves that the human spirit 
has form, person, consciousness and intelligence, 
after being separated from the body. St. Paul 
speaks of being at home in the body, and absent 
from the Lord, and says, he "would rather be ab- 
sent from the body and present with the Lord/' 
(2 Cor. 5:6, 8.) St. John tells us that he heard the 
disembodied saints singing in heaven and prophe- 
sying that they were to come back and reign on 
the earth. And they sung before the Lamb, ■ 'Thou 
wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by Thy 
blood, out of every nation, and made us unto our 
God kings and priests, and we shall reign on the 
earth." (Rev. 5:9,10.) Here are saints in heaven. 
and before the first resurrection, singing praises 
to God and the Lamb, and distinctly saying that 
they shall return and reign on this earth. The 
soul-sleepers deny this word about these saints 
being conscious and intelligent after death, and 
the Post-Millennialists deny it about the saints ever 
coming back after the first resurrection to reign on 
the earth. It is amazing how professing Christians 



330 The Renewed Earth. 

can positively reject the plain statements of God's 
Word. Again, John tells us he heard and saw the 
souls of those who had been slain for the Word of 
God, and they cried with a loud voice, saying, 
"How long, Oh Lord, dost Thou not judge and 
avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth," 
(Rev. 6:9,10.) These were the souls of martyrs, 
conscious, intelligent and praying for the coming 
of the Judgment, and the time when all murder 
and iniquity should be done away from the earth. 
O, that all ministers and professing Christians had 
as much knowledge about the Judgment and the 
coming age of righteousness on the earth as is re- 
vealed by the words of these disembodied saints 
that John heard singing before the Lamb and 
praying under the altar. We have only noticed a 
few passages of the many, and yet we have seen 
from Genesis to Revelation the most explicit state- 
ments as to the souls of men, both good and bad, 
having" a separate conscious existence, and a per- 
sonal form and intelligence, after the death of the 
body. 

3. Let us now consider the localities spoken of 
in the Scripture where the souls of the dead are re- 
tained until the resurrection. So many people 
have dim and confused ideas of the spirit-world, 
and the different places mentioned in Scripture 
where souls, good and bad, have their abiding 
places, that we need to go slow and follow the exact 
words of Scripture, in order to take our soundings 
of the unseen world. To begin with, we must re- 
member that before the resurrection of Jesus, the 



Where Are the Dead ? 331 

souls of both the righteous and the wicked were, 
according to Scripture, kept down inside of the 
earth, one side for the righteous, the other side for 
the wicked, with an impassable gulf between them. 
The word "sheol" in the Old Testament, and the 
Greek word ' 'hades" in the New Testament, both 
mean the same thing, that is, "the unseen world,' 5 
the "place of departed spirits." The word "sheol" 
occurs in the Hebrew of the Old Testament sixty- 
five times, and in our English Bible is translated 
thirty-one times by the word "hell," thirty-one 
times by the word "grave," and three times by the 
word "pit." The Greek word "hades," which 
means the "unseen world," occurs eleven times in 
the New Testament, and is mostly translated by 
the word "hell," and sometimes by the word 
"grave." But both words mean the "unseen 
world of souls," whether good or bad. Now, re- 
member that these two words do not in a single 
instance in the Bible signify the place where dead 
bodies are buried, and hence should never be 
translated "grave," as the word for grave, or tomb, 
or sepulcher, is a different word entirely; but 
"sheol" and "hades" are expressly for souls, prov- 
ing that the body and the soul have different re- 
ceptacles after death. In the next place, remem- 
ber that "sheol" and "hades" are never used in the 
Bible to denote the final abode of either good or 
bad, but always a temporary place for souls be- 
tween death and the resurrection. Other words 
are used for the ultimate and everlasting abode of 
human beings and angels after the Judgment 



332 The Renewed Earth. 

Now this will explain why it is that all through the 
Old Testament, the souls of the dead, both good 
and bad, are said "to go down into sheol," and 
"down into the earth." Jacob, supposing Joseph 
to be dead, said, "I shall go down to my son 
Joseph into sheol/' or the unseen world. There is 
no account of.the souls of the righteous ascending 
up from the earth before the resurrection of Jesus. 
Samuel and Saul, the rich man and Lazarus, all 
alike went down into sheol or hades, the unseen land 
of souls; but in that land of shadows where the 
saints were retained as "prisoners of hope" — in the 
language of Jeremiah— waiting for the resurrection 
of Jesus, there were two separate apartments, one 
of peace and comfort, the other of distress and 
torment. Many foolishly ask, "How could that be, 
and how could they speak to each other across the 
impassable gulf?" It is our place to believe what 
God says; and yet, as if to give us on the outside 
surface of the earth a sample of what might be 
on the inside of it, there are places in deep valleys 
in Arizona and other localities, where in the sum- 
mer time it is so hot that the thermometer regis- 
ters almost daily 130 degrees, and yet within sight 
are the lofty mountain peaks covered with snow; 
and, by the use of a telephone, men a few miles 
apart can speak to each other from a scorching, 
torrid heat to cool, winter weather. When a wicked 
lieart wants to disbelieve the plain statements of 
Scripture, it can always ask a plenty of foolish 
questions. 

Before we consider Paradise, or the place where 



Where Are the Dead ? 333 

the righteous dead are kept since the resurrection 
of Jesus, let us consider still further the place of 
hades — the place where wicked souls are kept until 
the last judgment. Just as in our civil courts, 
criminals are arrested and put in jail until they are 
tried in open court, and then are sentenced for 
their final punishment to the State's prison; so the 
souls of the wicked dead are lodged in hades, which 
is a place of preliminary punishment, but at the 
resurrection of the wicked, which the Bible tells 
us takes place after the thousand years' reign of 
the saints, they are judged and cast with Satan 
into Gehenna, or the final hell. The Prophet Isaiah 
gives us a picture of the descent of the soul of the 
wicked King of Babylon into sheol, or the pre- 
liminary hell. "Hell from beneath is moved for 
thee, to meet thee at thy coming, it stirreth up the 
dead for thee, yea, all the chief ones of the earth, 
and they shall speak, and say unto thee, 'Art 
thou become like unto us? 5 "(Isa. 14:9,10.) That is 
the awful place where wicked souls curse each 
other, but there is not one word in Scripture that 
they repent. The rich man in hades prayed to 
Abraham, but he never mentioned the name of 
God, and he prayed for water, but not one word 
for pardon. Hence, it is a sentimental delusion that 
wicked souls in hades ever desire salvation from 
sin, or would ever repent if they had a second 
chance, "He that is unjust" at death will continue 
to be "unjust still." 

4. Now let us consider the place of the righteous 
dead, and their condition since the resurrection of 



334 The Renewed Earth. 

Jesus. The passage in St. Peter about Christ de- 
scending into hades, and preaching to spirits in 
prison, is often read carelessly. The Bible facts 
are these: ' 'Jesus died the just for the unjust, as 
our substitute, and being under the curse of the 
law, His soul after death had to descend into hades, 
like any other soul, but doubtless His presence in 
that land of shadows diffused a great light and ex- 
pectation to all the righteous, that the time of their 
deliverance was at hand. After three days "He 
was quickened by the Holy Spirit," being raised 
from the dead, and then after His resurrection He 
went back to hades in His glorified humanity, and 
proclaimed to both the righteous and the wicked 
dead, for the word "preached" does not mean that 
He evangelized them, but that He proclaimed His 
absolute victory over sin, Satan, death, and hades. 
Then, by the authority of His glorified humanity, 
He opened the portals on that side of hades where 
the righteous dead were retained, and brought 
them all up from the under world to the light of 
day, and when He ascended into the heavens He 
took them up with Him into Paradise, to await His 
second coming and the first resurrection. 

Now, turn and read, "For Christ also hath suf- 
fered for sins, the just for the unjust, and being 
put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the 
Spirit, by which also He went and preached (or 
proclaimed) unto the spirits in prison." (1 Peter 
3:18,19.) Please notice, He did not preach to these 
disembodied spirits until after He had "been quick- 
ened," that is, raised from the dead by the Holy 



Where Are the Dead ? 335 

Spirit, yet so many overlook this, and represent 
Jesus as preaching in His disembodied state, for- 
getting that Christ in a disembodied state was still 
paying the death penalty for sin, and that He had 
no authority to proclaim victory over death until 
after His own resurrection; for how can a dead 
man be shouting victory over the grave while his 
body is still in the tomb? Our victory over death 
now is because Jesus rose from the dead. Hence, 
it was after the dead body of Jesus had "been 
quickened by the Spirit, " that He proclaimed His 
victory among the dead ones. 

A prophetic type and sample of Jesus preaching 
to the spirits in prison is found in the case of 
Joseph in prison in Egypt, proclaiming to his fel- 
low-prisoners the interpretation of their dreams, 
that in three days one of them would be freed and 
exalted to royal favor, and the other would suffer 
the death penalty. Joseph is a most wonderful 
type of Jesus, in being the beloved son, sold by his 
brethren; cast into a pit; then going into a far 
country, and then into prison, a type of hades, and 
there preaching to his fellow-prisoners, the exalta- 
tion of one and the execution of another; then 
rising from prison, or hades, to the right hand of a 
monarch; then feeding the nations with bread, that 
is, giving salvation to the Gentiles; then marrying 
an elect bride from the Gentiles; then meeting his 
brethren, the Jews, at the end of the age, and let- 
ting them see his face, being reconciled to them, a 
type of Israel's restoration at Christ's second com- 
ing, and then reigning over his brethren, a type of 
Millennial happiness. 



336 The Renewed Earth. 

Now, let us prove from Scripture that after the 
resurrection of Jesus, He liberated all the right- 
eous dead from the under world of hades, and when 
He ascended He took them with Him up into Par- 
adise in the heavenly places. "The chariots of 
God are twenty thousand, even thousands of an- 
gels; the Lord is among them as in Sinai, in the 
holy place. Thou hast ascended on high, Thou 
hast led captivity captive, Thou hast received gifts 
for men, yea for the rebellious also, that the Lord 
God might dwell among them." (Psa. 68:17,18.) 
This is a prophecy of what Jesus did with the 
righteous dead at His ascension, and the Psalmist 
uses Mount Sinai as a type. The Lord went down 
into Egypt, where His people were captives, and 
brought them up to Mount Sinai by the ministry 
of thousands of angels, and thus Jesus went down 
into hades, and brought forth from captivity the 
souls of the righteous dead, and ascended with 
them into the heavens, and received authority from 
the Father to bestow the gifts of the Holy Ghost 
upon men, and to subdue the rebellious. This is 
proved by St. Paul in quoting this very Scripture. 
' 'When He ascended up on high, He led captivity 
captive," or, as the margin reads, a multitude of 
captives, ''and gave gifts unto men. Now that He 
ascended, what is it but that He also descended 
first into the lower parts of the earth. He that de- 
scended is the same also that ascended up far above 
all heavens." (Eph. 4:8-10.) Here the apostle 
tells us "Christ descended into the lower parts of 
the earth," which does not mean a grave only a 



Where Are the Dead ? 337 

few feet deep, but "into the heart of the earth," 
where the souls of the dead were retained, and 
there He gathered all the saints that were held in 
captivity under the law, and lifted them up at His 
ascension into the heavens, or a place called Par- 
adise, to remain there in peace, comfort, joy and 
fullness of hope, until His second coming, when 
they will get their resurrection bodies preparatory 
to the marriage supper of the Lamb. Hence, in 
the Old Testament the uniform expression for those 
who died was that of "going down into the earth," 
but since the resurrection of Jesus the constant 
expression for the righteous dead is that of "goiBg 
up into heaven, "and "up into Paradise, " and "see- 
ing the heavens opened." The word "Paradise" 
occurs three times, and in every instance is spoken 
of as the place for righteous souls after death. 

"Paradise" means a park,- a flower-garden; and 
the Scriptures represent the condition of the 
righteous dead as pre-eminently a state of rest and 
joy, but not of active service, such as employs the 
ministry of angels. Lazarus was comforted, but 
the rich man's soul was tormented. The righteous 
dead "rest from their labors, and their works do 
follow them." Paul said it was "better to be ab- 
sent from the body, and present with the Lord" 
John saw and heard "the souls of the martyrs pray- 
ing under the altar in heaven." 

The righteous dead have not yet received their 
rewards, for every passage speaks of them getting 
their rewards at the second coming of Jesus. Thus 
we see the souls of the wicked dead will be kept in 



338 The Renewed Earth. 

torment in hades till the last white throne Judg- 
ment, and then will be cast with the devil and his 
angels into Gehenna, the lake of fire, the ultimate 
hell, which the Bible says will last "to the ages of 
the ages." The word "Gehenna," which means a 
"place of constant burning," occurs eleven times 
in Scripture, and the first persons to enter it are 
the beast and false prophet at the battle of Arma- 
geddon. Satan is chained in the "abyss" a thou- 
sand years during the Millennium, and then he and 
all the wicked dead are cast into the "Gehenna 
fire," where the beast and the false prophet have 
spent a thousand years, and are still there. (See 
proof, Rev. 19:20 and Rev. 20:1-10.) 

Thus we see expressly stated that the righteous 
dead were retained in the good side of hades till the 
resurrection of Jesus, and since then the souls of 
the righteous dead are with Christ in Paradise in 
conscious joy and comfort, but praying for and 
looking for the return of Jesus to get their resur- 
rection bodies, and reign with Christ for a thou- 
sand years over the nations before the resurrection 
of the wicked, and beyond that through everlasting 
ages of glory and blessed service. (For proof see 
Rom. 8:18-21; Rev. 5:10: 20:1-6.) 



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